Arena Games
by Firestar77
Summary: Alexis Firestar,arena contender,is looking for answers.She entered the games to find out the answers she couldn't as an Imperial Guard.As she digs into the seedy underworld,crooked politics come to light...at the end of her sniper rifle.
1. Chapter 1 : The Game

Chapter 1 is a little slow, I promise it gets better, just give it a chance. It was a necessary setup for the rest.

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**CHAPTER 1 : THE GAME**

Not too long after the great Warbot fights, after the Warbot champion Alexis with her trainer Marvin decimated those deadly arenas with their five story "Shadow" bot, arena fighting took a turn for the more mortal. The public still liked a good fight between two five story Warbots, but a small underground collection of "Arena" Fighters, armed with the latest in projectile and laser weaponry, was growing in popularity. These "Arena" fighters, as they were dubbed by their fans, were mortals, flesh and blood, of every race and creed looking for something. Some looked for vengeance, some looked for answers, and some just had nowhere else to go. These fighters played "The Games", a collection of duels, military missions, team killing sprees, and other creative battles, to see who is the best, who keeps the best team, and how long they can keep the title. So it looked to the arena's fans, however the purpose of the games was much more sinister, much darker then the surface bloodshed.

The average life span of an arena fighter once in the fight can be measured in seconds. One wrong step, one wrong turn, one blind corner and game over. It was a harsh life, but once you were in, there was no out, not unless it was a body bag. Death from a team mate, death from an opponent, or even death from the Arena Keeper, just so word would never reach the authorities about the location of the next battle. The arena was forever moving, and changing, for safety and security.

The contestants started as individual fighters. Taking on duels, or contests of last man standing. The best of the "death duels" are selected by the different teams. The official teams number four. It has been this way from the beginning. The "Phyre Knights", still donning the armor of their disbanded imperial guards unit, these humans were trained in every way of painful death. They were quick, efficient, and never showed their faces. Just their full, metal helmets of death. Never smiling, never flinching, always methodical and prepared. They were the professional killers of "The Games". The Phyre Knights only recruit the best of the best, usually ex-imperial guards, or other professionally trained warriors.

The "Blood Wraiths", a group of genetically altered humanoids, with a need for blood nourishment. With one bite they can feed on the deceased, or turn the not quite so deceased into a Blood Wraith, infecting the comatose with a genetically altering chemical. Soon they become a Blood Wraith and hope to turn other people someday too. Outlawed by society, they took to the underground to prove their worth. Usually found in blood red leather, with weapons that do little damage to the flesh and blood so that after the kill they can feast. However, they would only feast on the worthy. Those who were killed out of mercy, or cowardice are left to rot, their souls trapped in the dead body. The warriors who fought to the death were sucked dry, "Blood Wraiths" believing that their feasting on a victim frees the soul of the slain warrior. This allows the soul to fight on another plane, in another time. They believe no fight is ever done either, that they will meet the freed soul on the next plane to battle again someday.

"Godlings", the bane of "Arena" games, are genetically perfect beings. Raised in labs, no family, no friends, bred to fight, and to win. These creatures resemble humans, but do not like to be confused with their flawed creators. They have organic armored skin, with the strongest steel intertwined with their flesh. Somewhat pale, their blood is a clear pink, the human blood being transformed into the lubricant needed to power their augmented bodies. They have no emotional ties with anyone to hold them back. They don't eat, rarely sleep, only wear minimal clothing because armor is not needed. They have the easiest movement of all the teams, because of the lack of armor, and therefore the best speed of the groups. Like a pit viper they can strike without warning and have been rumored to dodge incoming missiles. Their one flaw is the unpredictability of human nature. A trait the "Godlings" do not posses, and can never calculate in an opponent.

Then there is the "Iron Claw" a group of militant psychopaths. They only claim the most obedient and well trained that the Phyre Knights don't claim first. Blood enemies of the Phyre Knights, the members of the Iron Claw usually wear plain, steel armor, are well versed in the art of killing, and prefer a weapon with splash damage then something accurate. Where the Phyre Knights would snipe from a distance, the Iron Claw will insert a missile up your ass, kick you off a cliff and watch your giblets splatter in an abstract pattern on the cliff walls. They are also methodical and well planned, like the Phyre Knights, just less tactful and refined about it. Instead of the Phyre Knight steel mask, they want their victim to see their face, the killing rage in their eyes, as they die. They say the Phyre Knights hide their faces out of cowardice because they would be hunted down if it was known who they were. The Iron Claw is every bit as good as the Phyre Knights, and they know it, but the Phyre Knights always seem to keep one step ahead of the Iron Claw.

Some groups rival other groups, some groups hate everyone equally. Some fighters kill with a calculated plan, and others kill in the most unorthodox and unpredictable of ways. Life in the Arena is short if you are a fool, torturous if you are shrewd, and vindictive if you are a survivor. The bottom line is that mortality has become a game and whether you win or lose is not just how you play the game, it's how you survive to see the next day.

Deep in the underbelly of a defunct factory, sitting in wait, is the Arena master. The next Arena game moments from it's start. Minimal power is given to the starved machinery as it creeks to life. The lights are low, flickering menacingly. The sounds of the creaking conveyor belts resound through the desolate factory. The air is stale, untouched for years, and cold as it drips slowly in through broken glass windows, high on the walls, from the outside. Dark corners aplenty, a sniper's paradise, or a thief's wonderland. Fire jetted from contraptions on the conveyor belt's endless path, threatening from a far, singeing anyone who dared too close.

Strewn about the floors of the factory were select weapons, 8 different types to be exact, and 2 that were given at the start of the games, 10 total. Starting weapons are just that and usually put away after a more powerful weapon is found. The first weapons being a large bowie knife with a razor sharp edge. Later in the life of a fighter they may purchase their own and personalize it, but in the beginning it was a regulation Arena Games bowie knife. Also given is the regulation Auto-Mag, the same may later apply for the Auto-Mag, but in the beginning it is kept basic. The Auto-Mag was a fully automatic hand gun, not as quick as it's Chain Gun counterpart, but much more accurate.

Then there was the "Easter Egg" style hunt for a bigger better weapon while hunting other fighters and keeping yourself alive. First, on the findable weapon list, is the Chain Gun. Projectile with a vengeance, there were two settings. Regular and Hollow point bullet chains. The Hollow point chain was slower and did more damage, where the regular was fast, but not as effective as the Hollow point chain.

Second weapon would be the Blade Spinner. With exploding and non-exploding discs. These discs will shred armor with ease and flesh like a hot knife through butter. The exploding discs lodge themselves into the armor or flesh and then explode, all in the course of a second or two.

Weapon three, the plasma gun, which fires a stream of armor weakening plasma, or balls of explosive green energy at a rapid fire rate taken from canisters of weapons grade plasma. Then there is the fourth weapon, the Shock rifle. Like the plasma gun, it fires an energy projectile. Ammo comes from a depleted uranium canister, and it fires a laser-like beam with an almost perfect accuracy, or a ball of energy that has a small splash radius of damage.

Five is the missile launcher, it fires missiles in three ways. Time allows for the heat seeking mode to kick on, but time is a luxury not always had. There is fire "from the hip" mode, and then there is just lob the missile with a timer and let it go off, like a grenade. Six is a Shrapnel cannon, it fires canisters of sharp metal that spray the room, or launch the canister like a frag grenade and take cover.

Then there is the unstable Hazard rifle. It fires radioactive sludge that explodes on contact, or with proximity. The rifle has two settings, tiny globs, or one large glob that can drip down and explode with a large bang and an impressive splash radius. Unpredictable and dangerous, most times this is a weapon of last resort.

Last is the Sniper Rifle, an old world company of humans, calling themselves "Germans" created a high powered rifle and coupled it with a high powered scope. Nothing in the Arena is more accurate, or more versatile. This rifle can be used over the longest distances, or at point blank range. Only using a hollow point bullet, the rifle, if used correctly, can remove body parts, like the head, and severing it clear off the unsuspecting body.

However, in the Arena games there are no bombs, or land mines. The warriors fight face to face on even ground with the weapons provided to them by the Arena Master. With the rules laid out, that being there are no rules, the fighters prepared for the battle in the moments before the game. The fighter's are transported, via energy beam, into the arena, and frozen in place. An implant in each of their minds would show them the layout of the building, and sometimes weapon placement, getting there and staying alive was up to the fighter. Beings that this battle happened to be a Death Match, it was pretty cut and dry actually. It was a bloody free for all, every man for himself. If you survive the first two or three Deathmatches, you were chosen by one of the four teams to participate in the next Arena team battle.


	2. Chapter 2 : The Game Pieces

**CHAPTER 2 : THE GAME PIECES**

Warriors prepared in different ways, this was no different for Treasa Firestar. She slipped into her steel plate armor, the blue steel dulled by use, as she practiced for the games. She was disbanded from the Elite Guard, after winning several awards for excellence in the line of duty, on the account she had taken one too many bullets and her left knee was bad. She was convinced it wasn't too many wounds. Since when does the Elite Guard care about anyone's well being? To her, it just didn't add up. She tried retirement, but when you've been training for battle since age three, and your only twenty four years old, the smell of blood and the thrill of battle still calls to you. This was Treasa, and there was nowhere for her to go but the Arena. The other plus to the Arena is that she could continue her investigation into the Arena and it's activities. All the things she couldn't do while she was investigating in the Elite Guard. She could never get this close to the games, but now she could finish what she started, and maybe find out the real reason for her being honorably discharged from the Elite Guard. "Funny," she though as she tugged on her steel bracer. "I've spent all my life searching for these fighters to turn them in and stop the games, and now I am the criminal I once strove to capture. Ironic."

She holstered her regulation Auto-Mag on her right hip, slid an extra clip to her belt and slipped the bowie knife, razor sharp edge and all, into it's sheath that was strapped to her other hip and down her leg. She gave her leather pants a tug, and gave the steel-cloth shirt a downward pull, and looked in the mirror. She took her grease paint and ran dark lines across her face. It was more of a psych then anything important. She felt herself slipping into that dark mindset. From her black leather boots and their steel toes, up her leather pants, her steel thigh pads, to her steel cloth gray shirt. She carefully slid into her steel chest plate, shoulder pads, back plate, and finally her full face steel helmet. She felt her heart race as a siren blared. Warning call. She tied her long waving hair back in a tight, military ponytail that fell down her armored back and walked onto the transporter. Suddenly her body tingled and she knew there was no turning back now.

Next moment she was in the arena, her body frozen, but her mind was racing around the factory. "Nearest sniper rifle?" She asked in her mind. "Second floor, east wing." Came the metallic chime of a computer voice, as the database spoke to her mind. She mentally nodded. "Closest shield belt?" The same scratching voice of metal on metal came to her. "Top floor, on the crossbeam." She looked up and saw a beam supported above everything else, long, narrow and not something she looked forward to. "Location, nearest dark corner?" And the voice did not respond, her mind just ripped through the map and she knew everything she needed to know. Now she just waited for the "Go" signal and hoped that no one had the same idea as herself, and if they did, she prayed that she was faster.

In another far off arena, an artificial waste water treatment plant, the same preparations went forth. The plant was nothing more then a warehouse on the outside, but on the inside it was a simulated waste water plant, with tubes of stagnant water, heavy, crushing machinery, and other personal hazards. David, a moderately sized, muscular warrior, sized up his armor. He tugged his gauntlets onto his well worn hands. His hands were the hands of a worker, strong, calloused, and unhesitating. He wondered to himself, "Why am I doing this?". Yet his answer never satisfied him. It was out of revenge, his family was killed and taken by the Blood Wraiths in their fight to prove that they deserve to be accepted by social norms. The wraiths would slaughter innocents, feed and attend the games. David escaped with his life, just barely. He was bitten, and was turning, but he made it to the medical labs in time to be vaccinated and saved. He still carries the bite scars on his neck, as a reminder of why he was here, and what he was going to do to the people who took his family from him.

The first problem was that he knew nothing about fighting, or surviving at that. His family farmed, and did manual labor, they were never fighters. He supposed he would learn though. He took his family's money and invested in the games. He bought armor of the highest quality, an Auto-mag he called "Blood-tap", and a deadly bowie knife of the finest steel he called "Night Gypsy". He slipped his firearm into his right hip/leg holster, and his bowie slipped into his left leg bowie sheath, the one he had specially made for him, with the blade's name etched eloquently into the high grade leather.

He shifted in the feather steel plate mail. It was barley noticeable when wearing it. He looked in the mirror. His blue eyes burned with rage, but were tainted with fear. This would be his trial, possibly his only chance at revenge, possibly his last look in a mirror, or his last breath. He was not used to hiding the emotion in his eyes. He felt naked when he stared at his own blue eyes and saw everything he was feeling, and he knew others would too. He slipped a full feather steel helmet onto his head, covering his soft, blond hair, and the tinted eye lenses covering his fearful eyes. If they didn't know he was afraid then they might be intimidated by his six foot five frame, and well equipped weaponry status. "Kill or be killed." he kept telling himself. Then the siren blared. He glanced in the mirror one more time, possibly the last, then stepped on the transporter. "Kill or be killed...oh who am I kidding, I am a farmer not a mercenary." he thought to himself and shook his head as he was removed from one place and dropped in another.

He knew nothing of warfare, or fighting, but he did know that he was going to need a bigger weapon. In David's frozen start he spoke to his comm implant inside his head. "Uh, computer..." he thought and the computer answered him. "Yes, I am at your service." He smiled inside his helmet at the politeness of the computer, and it's scratchy computerized voice. "Where is the biggest weapon?" The computer replied, "Please specify." David thought hard again. "The most destructive weapon, where would it be?" And the computer responded politely, "Left, 200 ft." He smiled, "And what weapon would that be?" He asked. "A missile launcher." it replied. David's face dropped inside his featureless helm. "What the hell am I going to do with that?" he thought to himself, and the computer answered, "Terminate life forms." David shook his head and responded, slightly frustrated. "I wasn't thinking to you."


	3. Chapter 3 : Let the Games Begin

**CHAPTER 3 : LET THE GAMES BEGIN**

Back in the factory, Treasa got edgy, her heart was racing and if they didn't start soon she was sure her chest would rupture open and her heart come flying out in a burst of bone and flesh. Then the siren sounded and she was released from her stasis. Her body tingled like the whole thing was asleep, but she ignored it as she bolted up a ramp leading to the second floor, unholstering her auto-mag and holding it at ready in front of her. She hit a landing in the ramp and saw someone running down towards her, his tattered clothing and menacing smile was all she needed to see. She didn't think twice about depressing the trigger and releasing a red hot bullet out into the stale factory air. As she fired she dove for the Shock rifle in the corner of the landing, dropping her Auto-mag. As she spun to fire, her other shot had torn through the man's left shoulder and he was gripping his shoulder as she pulled off a shot with the shock rifle. Without armor the shot tore a six inch in diameter hole into the man's torso and singed the wall behind him. She grabbed the ammo for the rifle and slid it into her ammo belt, and also grabbed her auto-mag, and holstered it, snapping the restraining strap in place over it.

She held the rifle with both hands as she finished her climb up the ramp. She was running across a walkway when a small ball of plasma exploded behind her head. She spun and fired five shots across the walkway, tearing through the four armed alien's armor and splitting his head in half. She continued down the hall. Her body pulsed with the thrill of the hunt. She felt a bead of sweat run down the side of her face. She savored the feeling of her heart pounding, her heavy breathing and the smell of singed flesh on the air.

As she rounded a corner she was face to face with a sniper rifle. Before a shot was squeezed off she knocked the rifle askew with her own. A quick upward swipe of the shock rifle knocked the sniper rifle away before it fired. The hollow point bullet ricocheted off the steel walls and down the hall harmlessly. A powerful downward plunge with the stock of the shock rifle and Treasa had smashed in the other woman's face, breaking her nose and jawbone, and knocked her to the floor. Then Treasa finished the job as she lowered the shock rifle and took the woman's head clear off her shoulders with a single shot. Without a second thought, or a flinch at the gruesome death she was causing, she slid the strap of the shock rifle over her shoulder and onto her back as she snatched up the sniper rifle and extra bullets from the dead warrior woman's pouch. "I'll take that...thank you." she said to the headless woman and made for her next destination.

She ran another floor up, and it was deserted. She went to the edge of the shield belt opening and stared at the belt, and she could swear it stared back at her with a taunting and menacing air. She walked carefully to the center of the beam. She grabbed the belt "Yes!" She thought as a laser skimmed her armor, and she felt the burn of a near contact laser shot. She dove to the other side of the opening, and tumbled. She slid the belt on and locked it in place. She turned the knob and it made her a shimmering wall of shielding. It adding an extra 150 protection to her armor, but made her a highly visible target. She crawled up the edge and looked down silently, there were only three more contenders and she could win this fight. The sniper rifle slid over the edge as she zoomed in on the top of her previous assailant's unprotected skull. He stood there, taunting the others to come out. She zoomed in from three floors up and could see the hairs on his head, so clear she could count them. She carried a death's head grin as she pulled the trigger. Almost in slow motion the bullet exploded from the barrel of the rifle. It sped towards it's target, spinning, deadly accurate, as the hollow tipped messenger of death burrowed it's way into the victims skull, and then exploded outward, like a fist around a firecracker.

She pulled away from the scope to catch the fear on the face of the other guy down below, that walked into the room just as the shot was fired and the other man's head exploded, and his body fell to the floor. He turned to run. Quickly Treasa put the scope to her eye again, and fired a wayward shot, taking out the escapee's leg, blowing clear through the back of his knee, and out the other side with a vicious force. He laid in agony and whimpered and Treasa almost hated taking his life, but rules are rules, and she didn't like wounding victims so she sighted up his unprotected face, just as he saw his slayer topside. His eyes begged for mercy, but only received cold death. Then his body slid down the wall the rest of the way, lifeless, to the floor.

As Treasa pulled away from the scope, she heard footsteps, but it was too late. She looked to the only entrance to the room, and a female, face masked, toting a missile launcher, fired. Treasa rolled forward, off the ledge, half thrown by the splash explosion, onto a conveyor underneath. The extra shielding from the belt saved her from the fall and the splash but it clicked off, it's energy spent. She was normal again, and the only one left in a battle of wits versus barbaric firepower. She arched her head slightly and saw the reloaded missile launcher looking her way. She looked down the conveyor to a blast furnace, belching flames and smoke and decided that was not an escape route. It was too far to jump off the side to the first floor, so she looked up the conveyor. She scrambled to a crawl, and then to a run, up the conveyor belt, backwards. Her progress slowed by the backwards motion of the belt, she still escaped to the top before fired upon. The missile hit the belt, stopping it in operation and sending her into a nearby wall.

The sniper rifle was lost with the first fall, and her head pounded with the head wound she received from the second blast. Such is the price of being introduced to a steel wall with your forehead, helmet or not. The force of the missile explosion had blown Treasa into the steel wall of the factory and the ringing in her mind was deafening. She felt the blood trickle down her face, and she pulled her helmet off, and wiped it away before it ended up in her eyes. It was a pale red, like that of a simple flesh wound. She shook off the strange tingling in her mind, the result of her brain expanding against her skull, and she grasped the shock rifle from her back and reloaded it. She knew that her head wound would kill her, unless she won, then she would be transported out into a healing pod and all would be well. There was one exit from the balcony, and Treasa moved in and was waiting. And waiting, and waiting some more.

"Ok, they aren't moving, let me move them." She looked around, and saw the ammo for the missile launcher. Painfully she moved to grab the missile ammo, her body sore from the splash damage she took from the missile earlier. Her mind was spinning and darkness was starting to creep in on the edges of her vision. Painfully she thought about the ammo in her hands and her next move. The missiles could also be fired like timed grenades if the timer mechanism were to be activated. Sliding the rifle back on her shoulder, she gripped the missiles she found, three of them, under one arm and ran back to the ramp that led up to the balcony. Treasa fought the pain and proceeded to shout up the ramp.

"Why don't you come down and fight?" She asked, and her response from the other woman was quick and sharp. "Why don't you come up here, the view is so much better." and Treasa smiled her deadly grin again. "If you insist..." she shouted and with a missile in each hand, she smashed them into the steel wall as hard as she could, activating the timing device on each explosive projectile. The world danced in slow motion as she felt the weight of the ordinance in her hand, she could swear she could feel the ticking of the timer through her cool flesh, and she arced her arms back, and then tossed them into the upper room, one at a time. They spun, one going straight up the ramp the other banking off the hard metal walls. Reaching to the floor, she grabbed the last missile and in one fluid movement, slammed it into the wall and hurled it up the ramp at a different, third angle.

The metal on metal resounded as the bashed missiles clattered on the steel deck above her. Two explosions followed and then a third later one. The concussion was deafening and the force could be felt down a full level. The body of the woman was thrown off the balcony of the small room, in several pieces, bouncing off the side of the conveyor belt and smashing to the floor below. Treasa ran out on the broken conveyor to see if the job was complete. She pulled her Auto-mag and dumped a few shots into the woman's body, riddling it with holes. "I hope your dead now. I don't think I could play much longer." The following voice that resounded through the arena was Godlike... "Death Match survivor Treasa." The Arena master announced and Treasa twirled her Auto-mag as she slipped into her holster, and nodded to herself. She went back to her helmet, over by the ramp and placed it under her left arm. "This is only the beginning." She thought to herself and snarled out loud to no one in particular, but it felt good to do. Then she was transported to the Arena medical lab for healing. The last thing she remembers was being placed in a healing chamber, the lid closing like a coffin, but she knew she lived, she knew she won, she was on her way to being the Arena champion, and closer to finding her answers.


	4. Chapter 4 : Farming is Murder

**CHAPTER 4 : FARMING IS MURDER**

David felt his mind come snapping back as the siren blared, and the match started. This was it, he was in and he was probably going to die, and die alone. He pulled his Auto-mag and it felt foreign in his hand, and he tried to make the weapon of war comfortable in the hand of a farmer. He ran for the missile launcher and was greeted by someone who had been a bit faster. He though hard and fast and smiled in his featureless helm. "Give me that." David demanded in a husky deep voice. He looked down from his towering height of 6'5" at the 5'5" man in front of him with almost no armor. The man smirked. "Why?" He asked sarcastically. David shrugged an impressive movement, even in his bulky armor. "Cause I'm bigger then you." And the little man laughed. "You should fear the little guy with the big gun and not the big guy with the little gun." He said and raised the weapon to center on David's gut.

David swore he would have suffered from a cold sweat if his armor weren't climate controlled. "See, you fire and you'll hurt me, but you'll kill yourself. Give me the launcher and I'll let you go find something else. I'll stay here and wait for you." The smaller man cocked his head to the side and got a look of utter confusion on his face. "Uh...ok." he said and started to hand David the gun. "Wait a minute!" he shouted right before David could get a grip on the gun. He trained the gun on David again, "What do you think I am?" David blinked, disbelieving, he could think of a few choice names. Just then David snapped his auto-mag up and shot a man behind the smaller guy. It was so quick, David couldn't believe his own hands. The other guy, with a shot through the throat, released no scream, he just slumped down in the tube, silently gripping his throat wound. He died soon after he hit the water covered floor.

As the smaller guy turned to see, David clubbed him on the top of the head with the Auto-mag and the guy slumped to the floor. He shot the man in the head before he had time to analyze what he was doing. He was wrong, this was all wrong, but it was too late now, and so he found himself shaking and took off running.

He seemed to lose control of his own hands when death was on the line. He hated the idea that he just killed two men, but he had no choice. He wanted to live. He could live to the next day or die for the next guy that wouldn't care about the man he just killed. Anyway, David had a job to do, he wasn't here by choice, he owed it to his family.

David decided against the missiles in the tiny tubes of the aqueducts and water plant. He toted his auto-mag and felt somewhat safe. He knew he could kill if he had to. It wasn't something he was proud of but it was something he could do. He was wondering when the next person would charge around the corner and take his head off. He found the main cavernous tunnel, all the others seemed to branch around. He saw a broken pipe in the middle of the water covered main tunnel. On the closer wall was two vertical piped he could fit between and hide. He slipped out into the main hall and grabbed the pipe in the water. He lay one end propped on the step that reached up to the side of the wall, between the two vertical pipes. He stood between the two pipes and stepped on the pipe in the water. It popped up out of the tainted waves and he grinned evilly in his helm. He pulled his knife out after he holstered his Auto-mag.

Quietly he waited, listening hard. He heard the faint splash of running feet in the water. "Wait...wait..." he though to himself as he felt his anticipation rise. A shadow danced across the dark water. "Ready...ready...NOW!" He thought as he saw a figure come into view. He stomped hard on the metal pipe, and it sprang out of the water with a mighty splash and tripped up the passing warrior. David took a deep breath and leapt from the darkness of his hiding place. He grabbed the downed man's scalp, pulling his head back and exposing his throat and ran the blade of his knife across the exposed throat of his victim, and dropped him just as quickly as he had slaughtered him, face first in the dark water.

David could feel his pulse race as footsteps closed fast on him, and just as he turned from his squat and drew his Auto-mag with his free hand, he saw a woman open up with a chain gun. He pulled off a few shots with the gun and prayed. The chain gun roared loudly in the tiny space, and down every branch of the system. The flash from the chain gun was blinding and in his prayer he looked away. He was using his bad hand to fire with, but the assailant dropped hard to the floor, blown back by the velocity, power and sheer number of bullets that hit her now limp, lifeless body and she landed face up in the murky, blood tainted water. He slid his knife into it's sheath and paused to regain his thoughts.

He heard a scream and gunshots, as a missile flew out of a side tunnel and into the wall across the way. The explosion was blinding as well as deafening. He ducked out of the way and flinched in fear as the next thing flying out of the tunnel was a ferocious set of giblets belonging to some unfortunate soul who met the wrong end of the missile launcher. It was a red mist and a splattering of body parts, most too small to tell that they used to be a human. David felt the fear he was suppressing flutter to the surface. He was frozen with fear, he couldn't move. He didn't want to die, not like that, and not here. He saw a figure come around the corner and they hadn't seen him yet. He laid down in the murky water next to two other bodies and waited.

He clutched his Auto-mag and prayed some more. "Play opossum, and don't breath." He though to himself and swallowed hard. The warrior breathed a heavy breath and stalked down the main hall, shouting at funny intervals, searching for someone to blow to bits. As he walked over and past David's body, David inhaled slowly and rose even slower. David's fear subsided replaced by rage as he realized the only other contestant was a Blood Wraith. As he extended to his full height of 6'5", he towered over the other man. As he took a step forward to stand behind the last man and he raised his gun. This was the beginning of his quest for vengeance, this is what he came for. The brutal destruction of every Blood Wraith he could get his huge, well worn hands on.

He placed the Auto-mag on the back of the guy's skull and his hand on the Wraith's shoulder. David leaned forward next to the guy's ear, "Pray they don't find your brains in their bath water." David whispered menacingly in the man's ear, and David pulled his head away from the doomed man's ear. There was no sound from the other man, no cry, no breathing, save for the shudder of fear then the sound of his head splattering into a fine red mist. It splattered across David's armor like abstract art. "Don't lose your head." David said with a menacing air, as he let go of the corpse's shoulder and it slumped to the floor, a victim of gravity, to be covered and forgotten in the dark waters flowing across David's boots. "Death Match survivor, David" The Arena master announced. David pulled off his helmet and tucked it under his left arm, and clutched his Auto-mag in his right hand as he felt his body being transported to another place.

"Maybe this isn't so bad after all." he thought to himself with a frail grin before he was dropped into the medical lab. His body was exhausted as he felt the adrenaline seep from his system, he wondered where he learned to do the horrible acts he had just committed. His legs buckled in the lab and nurses came to his aid. The picked up the big man's frame and placed him in a healing chamber. Darkness consumed his mental state before the lid to the chamber could be closed and he was oblivious to anything except the joy of the darkness and the comfort of a numb body.


	5. Chapter 5 : Lost Souls

**CHAPTER 5 : LOST SOULS**

"Wakie, wakie Treasa, it's time to get up." Some white garbed gentleman said and Treasa pulled her mind from it's unconscious state, through the blackness, and back to reality. Her sleeping body stirred slowly and her blue green eyes fluttered open.

"How long was I out?" She asked and the doctor smiled, "Only a few hours. You had some pretty critical brain injuries, good thing you had that helmet." He said and helped her out of the healing chamber. Lightly she placed her bare feet on the cold steel floor, as she realized that her armor was removed. Just her leather pants, and steel cloth shirt remained of her warrior's garb. Tensing slightly, she reached to her neck for a necklace she had been given long ago. One she couldn't have replaced. Still hanging gently from her long neck, it was one of the few pieces of her humanity she still had left, and she clung to it desperately. She glanced around for her personal effects and saw them on a near by table. She relaxed a bit after locating her stuff and submitted to the doctor's release examination.

"Well you seem to be fine now." The doctor stated with a friendly grin, putting his medical scanner away. She smiled back weakly, still trying to shake off the relaxing effects of the healing chamber. She took in her surroundings, realizing she was deep in the secret medical labs for the games. It was full of medical scanners, miscellaneous equipment, and several healing pods. However only a few were active. All surviving members were transported here after their game. No one but the Arena Master knows the location of the lab, not even the doctors who work there. Daily the doctors in the lab are transported in, with the internal lab computer giving the final transport approval, after scanning DNA to match each individual's passcode. Very little margin for error, just the way the Arena Master likes it. Fool proof.

As she glanced into the pods near her she saw a man, with a huge body frame, a sharply angled facial structure, and soft blond hair. She felt a momentary tug on her long dead emotional side. A faint pull towards this sleeping contender in the Arena Games, but only for a moment. She shook this feeling off also and chalked it up to the strange effects of the healing pods. Her Imperial Guard training long since eliminated all emotional responses other then joy derived from the art of war. So she paid her stone heart no mind, gracefully walked passed the pod and retrieved her gear from the table.

"Ready to go?" The doctor asked and she nodded as she picked up the last of her gear, placed it in her duffel bag that had been transported in for her and turned to face the doctor. As he pressed the button to send her home, human nature took a hold of her well trained instincts and caused her to glance one last time at the man sleeping in the pod. And as suddenly as she had appeared earlier, she was gone, in a splash of blue light.

Back in Treasa's civilian apartment, there was nothing. It was as sparse as possible, while remaining completely functional. There was her computer terminal, functional kitchen, living room with books on books, her sleeping chamber and lavatory. The bedroom contained a single bed, dresser, and closet where she kept her arena gear stowed, with a padlock. In the living room she kept her single lounge chair, amazing library, and her stereo. While the apartment had electric everything, she preferred candles when she was reading in the lounge chair with Beethoven, Mozart, and other classical works playing in the background. The kitchen was rarely used, since Treasa's cooking skills were severely limited, down right bordering on handicapped at times.

She appeared in the center of the room in a flash of blue light and a faint tingle. She wasted no time getting to her bedroom and stashing her armor. There was never any certainty you were ever alone anymore. Always watched, with the walls having ears, this was the way the Empire liked it, and Treasa knew it all too well. Daily she was finding "Bugs" around the apartment, tiny listening devices, or even miniature cameras, watching her every move. She stowed her armor and weapons away neatly and locked the closet door. She went to the dresser and retrieved a new set of civilian clothes, then proceeded to the bathroom.

She dropped the clothes on her sink, and glanced into the mirror. Empty hazel eyes stared back at her. "Where did your innocence go?" She asked her reflection, realizing that the person she was before she joined the Guard died when she lost her first love to group of power hungry rivals. Her mind drifted as she stared into the reflection's hollow eyes. It drifted to Alexander Justyn. Her A.J.

The initial thing she always remembered about their last night together was the soft summer breeze. It carried with it the faintest hint of honeysuckle, and slipped gracefully through his short, auburn hair. It teased her, imploring her to reach over and run her fingers through his hair's silken strands. He had the most heart breakingly beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen. Framed in with long eyelashes, she found herself getting lost in his gaze frequently. With soft lips he spoke with a captivating voice, not always loud, but with sway, containing a simply melodic, deep, resonating tone. When he spoke softly he moved her the most, his voice just washed over her mind and made her heart skip a beat. He had broad, strong shoulders, and a husky build. He had impressive hands, large and powerful, with long fingers. He stood at an even 6 foot and weighed about 200 lbs, yet carried a grace and elegance about him fit for royalty at times. Suave and sophisticated always, he could be found wearing brown suede shoes, dark dress socks, a relaxed set of khaki pants, a white button down shirt with the top two buttons undone, and a black sport jacket this particular evening. He never wore cologne that she could remember, however he always had the faint smell of vanilla on him. It was a familiar smell that she fell in love with and it always made her feel safe.

Never had she met someone who could make her smile by walking in the room, or make her happy with a few words. She remembered being in love with him long before he considered dating her, possibly before he even knew she existed outside of "just another woman" he occasionally ran into to.

They sat under one of the oldest trees left in the city, on the outskirts of the ancient metropolis, just off the archaic river's edge. The only nature left of a world they never knew. Sitting on the soft moss, leaning on the huge, old tree, he wrapped his arms protectively around Treasa's tiny frame. She melted into his chest, and reveled in the true love, warmth, and deep protection she felt in his arms. She lay her right ear on his chest to listen to his heart beating. This was the night he gave her the necklace, the pendant with the star sapphire gleaming brightly from it's tiny gold setting and it's gold chain. With that he told her he would never leave her and love her eternally.

A moment later Treasa's memories shifted quickly to later that very same evening. Rumor had it that he was gunned down by a group of mercenaries paid to kidnap him and kill him in cold blood by a rival political party. If he finished his campaign with a win he would shift power in the Empire from an even split, the way it had been for over 200 years, to his party's favor and he would forever change the balance of power in the known universe. He had just left her at her place and gone home. She reveled over the sweet softness of his good night kiss, the tingling ecstacy that his hands created as they rested on the small of her back, warm on her flesh. Then she received a call that he was kidnapped by the rival party and assassinated during his attempted escape. Her world shattered in that very instant, and what little innocence she had was lost forever.

The hardest part of the entire case was that his body was never found. Was he killed? Maybe he survived? Maybe he survived the gunning just to be recaptured and tortured, or was he killed and then they dumped the evidence? She joined the guard to avenge him, to find the answers that left her empty. Destroying the rival party was just the beginning though, as she uncovered just how deep this political dissension went through the Empire and she continued her honorable service to the guard all the while avenging her lost love. Her childhood training, her lost love and her lost innocence created her razor sharp edge and her empty feeling of nothing to live for drove her to her physical limit. This made her the ultimate weapon of war, and therefore sealed her fate long ago. Innocence passed, love departed, leaving her soul lifeless, empty, and numb for eternity. She looked away from the mirror and the person that she had become. The person she hated, the only shred of her past was her star sapphire in it's tiny, gleaming gold setting, hanging gently from her neck, down to her chest, her last tiny shred of hope, of humanity.

David was feeling much rejuvenated after his stint in the medical chamber. He felt he could take on the world, but this was not the case. He just had to take on the age old metropolis first. He started by flagging down a taxi, it's yellow and black checkered strip visible over two blocks away, and threw his huge duffel bag in the back seat. The duffel contained all his arena equipment and a spare change of clothing. He closed the yellow checkered door and leaned up to the plexi-glass separator. "I would be new around here and need to find an apartment, know of any decent ones?" and the driver nodded. His dark hair and eyes emotionless in the rear view mirror.

David had to find a home first. His farm was gone, his family was gone, his entire life was gone. It didn't hurt as much as it did before though. He felt he had accomplished something today. He felt a part of himself relieved that a portion of his promise had been fulfilled somewhat. Even though he was not a taker of life, for he was no god, he found himself viewing the Blood Wraiths as subhuman, and therefore not a travesty to slay. He found himself wishing to run the arena again, the tingle in his mind, the pound of his heart in his chest. Addicted to the rush of electrified adrenalin and the numbing effects of fear, working in synch to create the perfect balance of power and clarity.

He stopped his thought process for a moment, realizing just what thoughts were crossing through his mind and shuddered heavily. He was changing, and he knew it. He was no longer innocent, but a cold blooded killer. He shifted uncomfortably in the worn leather seats of the taxi, like he just saw something deathly frightening. However the only frightening things he could find happened to be the contents of his own mind, creating the uncomfortable sensation the enveloped his contemplations just now. Once in the game it was self defense, kill or be killed, right? However joining the games was his option, his solution for revenge. Had he really sunk so low? Not only was it morally wrong, but it was physically wrong. His gift in life was farming, but his current goal was revenge, and his hidden talent was bloody combat. However in the crossfire, not only did the Blood Wraiths pay for the anguish they caused him, other people he had never met died by his hand this night. These people were innocents as far as he was concerned, they did no wrongs to him. Yet, to stay alive, in a choice he had made out of anger, pain, and vengeance, to place himself in a situation where he had no choice but to defend himself, he had to kill these "innocents". This made him no better then the Blood Wraiths that killed his family.

Again he stopped this second train of thought and shook his head. His blond hair flopped gently, as the head shaking ceased and he closed his eyes and felt confused and empty. "I just had my first argument with myself," he said to himself quietly, pausing to shake his head again, "and I think I lost." He finished, closing his eyes and letting his head fall back on the worn leather headrest with a faint thump.


	6. Chapter 6 : Family or Foe

**CHAPTER 6 : FAMILY OR FOE?**

Dawn came at length for Treasa. She slept only a portion of the night and lay staring at the room's white ceiling the rest of the time. The creeping rays of golden light slipped in between the pulled slats of her window shades, and illuminated the darkness, like saving grace. Yet she didn't feel saved, not in the least. She lay, confined by her own mind, in her twisted bed sheets and felt emptiness devour her. She had no point, no purpose anymore. Every breath furthered a hollow existence. She stay motionless, her thoughts stagnating when her comm implant went off. She answered it quickly with a single cleared thought. "It's time, thirty seconds." The male voice said and disconnected. She vaulted her once paralyzed body out of the bed, and reached into her closet. She had just enough time to grab her duffel bag of gear before a transporting flash over took her body and whisked her to her next arena, her next temporary purpose.

She was dropped into a locker room, dimly lit, with swinging, antiquated lamps, with 40 watt bulbs and a thin dust in the air. She inhaled sharply and winced. It even smelled like an ancient locker room. "Disgusting, didn't they ever hear of ventilation?" She said to herself and her implant went off again. "Gear up, then move to the next room." Then it disconnected. She sighed deeply and nodded. She slipped out of her black, jersey sleeping shorts, and midriff black tee shirt, and into her cloth steel shirt, and her leather pants. She slid her armor plated knee high boots on, and felt her dreary depression fading as she slipped in to battle mode. Her heart pounded slowly, menacingly in her chest. She put on her steel thigh plates, and slid into her armor shoulder and chest plate. The armor covered down passed her abdomen, and she had a feeling of safety wash over her, she felt protected again. She put on her ammo belt, then her auto-mag holster, then her knife in it's leg sheath. She placed her combat paint on her face in single dark lines under her eyes. She felt another kind of darkness wash over her and she smiled grimly, knowing that this was the last of her life's purposes, and she was still the best. She frightened people with her cold, calculating style, and it was the only thing that made her feel alive anymore. She pulled her long, dark hair back in a military style pony tail and picked up her helmet, placing it on her head and making sure that it lined up properly with the rest of her uniform. She closed up her duffle bag, and locked it in one of the lockers. Treasa inhaled deeply, turned about face, and marched into the next room with the single most intimidating glare known to man.

Treasa entered the next room with measured paces. The room had four doors and at each of the four was a three foot by three foot cubicle of pale blue force field. In each cubicle was a contestant. The four contestants glared at each other and wondered what they were up against this time. Treasa glared at each one of the other three contestants already there. Suddenly there was a brilliant flash through out the room, without any warning. When the blinding light cleared a moment later the base color of all their armor was the same cobalt blue, with gold trim. "You are Darkfall, the latest addition to the Phyre Knight regime. These people will be your team mates for the rest of the tournament, possibly the rest of your arena career, however long that lasts. Know them, trust them, be them." The same male voice that came over Treasa's comm earlier, spoke over a loud speaker now, to all of them. The force field dropped and they all tentatively approached the room's center. They stared at each other, knowing that they had been chosen quickly for a team as opposed to three or four death match battles, there was only one completed for each, except for the one across from her. He was a previous tournament winner. Their comms all became linked and they knew where each other team member was and what they were doing and even what they were seeing.

Treasa looked at her new team mates and controlled the urge to flinch. She knew all the fighter's from their profiles logged in her implant and quickly rifled through the information contained in her mind. The first to her left was an augmented woman, Darkstar, with a prosthetium hand, arm and shoulder on her left side. Prosthetium was a new material with the strength of Titanium, and the pliability of plastic, and gave her the power of ten men in her one hand. It was flexible, almost indestructible, and deadly. It gave her a truly menacing air. Her blondish-brown hair fell down passed her shoulder, with a slight wave, and covered her right eye slightly. She wore a black leather mask over her mouth, and dark, mirrored glasses, that her hair fell over. Her whole outfit was now this dark cobalt, almost black, leather, instead of her usual shiny black leather. She toted the same regulation auto-mag and knife as the rest, strapped to her hip and leg. Her full leather outfit fit over her shapely body like a glove, covering her entire body, save for her left shoulder and arm, allowing the shine of the augmented arm to be completely visible. The outfit finished with her cobalt blue leather knee boots.

On the flesh of Darkstar's right hand, on the ring finger, she wore the gold and diamond signet ring given only to "Godlings". While she wore no real armor, she was no "Godling". At some point in the fairly recent past this woman known as Darkstar had to be devastatingly beautiful, but the harsh world had taken it's toll on her beauty. Now she was just darkly enchanting, something akin to a Black Widow, beautiful and deadly. Treasa made a mental note to look into her past, and to find out how this augmented human got the sacred signet ring of a "Godling".

To Treasa's right was a tall man, with broad, strong shoulders, blond hair, blue eyes and the best equipment money could buy. She glared at him as he fidgeted with his gear, he avoided eye contact with the other contestants in the room. Her mind tingled down the back of her neck and her glare was not one of intimidation, but recognition and confusion. She knew him. She had seen this man before, but where? She couldn't place him. Then she realized who he was, as she cocked her head slightly. She indulged in the tingling sensation that was spreading through her chest at an alarming rate, as she realized that this was the same man from the healing pod after the last game. His name was David Stormblade, a farmer with nothing left to live for but his family's revenge. Some people may not be able to see past the excellent charade that he was putting on. But Treasa had seen enough new soldier trainees come and go to know who's afraid and who's not. She could smell the fear, pulsing through his veins and smiled grimly. "Don't worry, that will soon be replaced with the numbness of a hundred dead souls on your hands and then it won't be fear, but the only way of life you know." Treasa thought to herself and she almost felt sorry for him. She remembered taking her first life and how it never got any easier, till she lost her humanity, and compassion. Losing your only love and reason for life will do that to a person. The tingle in her chest subsided and she brushed it away again. She was getting soft. However there was something else about him, something from her Empire training that made him familiar, his name, it was on a list, now if only she could remember what list it was.

Across from her was an average height male, with plain cobalt blue armor and a wolf tattooed to his bare shoulder. Rumor has it that this man before her abandoned the human race to live with the wolves. He would fight, hunt and run with them. His pack of wolves was hunted by a human over two years ago and so he hunted and killed the human before he had the chance to destroy the wolf man's pack. He was subsequently hunted down by the Imperial Guard. A band of soldiers came through and kidnapped him from that cave he was in, tranquilizing him, bagging him, and taking him to the Imperial Court. While years in the woods made him stronger, faster and deadlier then most men, he never lost his culture, manors, or use of the human language. He refused to give the authorities a name, he kept referring to himself as Izmyroth, the Lupine Soul. They condemned him to life in prison, six months later they gave him a reprieve. Sponsored by an outside company, he would be released if he won the Games and endorsed the company sponsoring him. Freedom and return to the wild was worth any price, so he took them up on his offer. He could hunt and feed to his heart's content, all the while punishing criminals and gaining his freedom. His sponsor supplied him with the necessary equipment, and he proceeded to win the tournament that year. Then the company paid a large fee to have all his records of identity removed and destroyed. He was then free to go about his life, but once in the games you were never out, sometimes not even in death. The Lupine Soul, for all intents and purposes never existed and was only figment of everyone's imagination, except in the arena. A large figment mind you, but a figment none the less, and a deadly one at that.

Treasa pondered briefly why these people had been teamed up. Then it came to her slowly. Treasa's only passion now was sniping, death from afar. She was quick, accurate, and lethal, never close enough to be seen. Izmyroth was a natural hunter and killer. His profile said he preferred his knife and bare hands to a ballistic weapon. David was good with a knife and great at improvising quick solutions. Darkstar was a stealth killer, with a taste for the shock rifle. It could explode if necessary, however, she had a passion for the laser mode that was silent and accurate, bested only by the sniper rifle itself. This is a team of silent mercenaries, covert operatives requiring precision, patience, accuracy, and no outside lives to hold them back with second thoughts and regret.

Her thoughts were running rampant when a second flash occurred in the center of the room and dropped in it's wake another soldier. He was adorned in the armor of an Imperial Guard, and it matched Treasa's exactly. She took in the new comer, standing squarely, almost at attention, at a hair over 6 foot tall, and looking rather impressive in his Imperial Armor. It's cobalt blue and gold accents well polished and all damages patched and filled regulation style. This man was one hell of a soldier at some point, just like Treasa, but was now nothing more then a glorified mercenary, also just like Treasa. She couldn't see anything about him, no recognizable features, nothing, just eyes peering through an Imperial helmet. Her mind rifled through information on this mysterious soldier. No history, just a list of accolades. He was well decorated as a soldier, didn't say why he was here, or why he was no longer with the guard, just that he was one of the best soldiers the Phyre Knights and the Games has ever had. He had no past, and no future, just the games. He had no name, but commanded authority from the entire room. He was simply known as "The Senator", and in the arena his reputation proceeded him. His eyes were the only visible part of his presumably human anatomy and they were cold, calculating and empty. Even more so then Treasa's eyes on her best day. He sent a chill down her spine. The stars on his collar were one more the Treasa's and she knew he outranked her. As he surveyed the room his eyes landed on Treasa and instinctively she snapped to attention and saluted her superior, no thought, just action, it's what she was trained to do. You can take the soldier out of the military, but you can't take the military out of the soldier. He nodded to her and she dropped back to her relaxed stance.

"Alright people, you are all here for a reason, you were hand picked by me to be our Covert Operations squad. Silent, meticulous, and lethal. You were all chosen quickly because you are needed immediately. Several old squads, including this one, were captured and subsequently slaughtered at the hands of our rivals The Iron Claw. The functionality of the Phyre Knights is based on the foundation created by this outfit, Darkfall. Move in stealth, fight with passion and if you are in danger of being captured, death is the only option. Do not allow yourselves to be caught under any circumstances. Go out in a blaze of glory or take your own life, but capture is not an option. Suicide is not a disgrace here but an honor on the field of battle. If you take your life for the good of the order, then honored you shall be. Understood?" He asked and everyone answered him quietly with faint affirmatives and he nodded.

The Senator's voice was deep, and resonating, altered slightly by a voice distortion device in his helmet. It added a metallic sound to his voice that almost gave David the creeps. He wasn't sure he liked the idea of "blaze of glory" or "suicide", but then again he didn't like the idea of torture either. He looked around the room and after this guy's speech and could understand the position of every member of this team, save for himself. He was a country bumpkin with a taste for revenge, how was he a covert operative? He wasn't about to ask this guy though, he was creepy and gave David the impression that he was psychotic if need be.

"This is a test arena, but the dangers are real. We have one other squad up for assignment as a defense regime. You will compete against them. Usually I will give you orders and positions but today you will work only with yourselves, and take the castle from the other team. If you win then the other commander needs to find some better recruits for his team, if you lose then I need to choose better recruits for this team next time. You can be replaced, if we have to, you will be replaced, but I have a feeling about this group. Don't make me wrong. I don't want to have to go hand pick more fledglings from the arena. We don't have time. Now suit up and head out."

With that a third flash of light enveloped "The Senator" and he was gone as quickly as he had appeared. Then a hole in the floor opened up to the far side of the room and a pole came down from the ceiling, through the new hole in the floor, hitting the bottom with a plunk noise, like water. Izmyroth inhaled slightly and winced, pulling his head back from the hole with curiosity. "Brackish water, warm, yet almost lifeless, that's not possible." He looked at the others and they stared back in awe. "How can you tell it's warm and lifeless?" David asked, head to one side, his blond hair falling gently away from his right eye. Izmyroth smiled darkly. "You can, after a time, learn to smell, hear and feel things that others can't. In the wilderness vision is least used. I can smell the brackish water, I can feel the moist heat with advanced sense of touch, and I can sense life in the water, comes with hunting, and I can hear the water running slightly against some foliage, so it does have a slight current. But in daylight I am almost blind, I can see, but not well, the light is painful at times. It is safe down there, although brackish water is brackish because of the life in it. This is, in fact, brackish water with little or no life forms what so ever. Must be man made, synthesized or some such creation. However it is safe."

Izmyroth finished assuring David with another grin and he approached the hole and looked at the rest of the team. Treasa nodded to him and he placed his hand on the pole and slid down into the water. Darkstar followed him, then after applying his helmet, David. Treasa looked at the room and shook her head at her new team, glad that they were not foes she would need to battle and knowing that these people will become her new family and slid down the pole into uncertainty.


	7. Chapter 7 : Failure is Not an Option

**CHAPTER 7 : FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION**

Treasa blinked and adjusted to their new surroundings. It was a small cavern, about 12 foot by 8 foot and the mouth was just as large. In the cave were supply boxes and ammo. Treasa motioned to the rest of the team to take their pick and then she grabbed the sniper rifle and ammo and slung the rifle on her shoulder. The ammo was placed in her ammo belt and she picked up a pair of binoculars. She slipped carefully to the mouth of the cave and slid her head around. The castle was about 50 yds off to the right of the cave and set in the rock face of a cavern wall. There was no around back. Treasa couldn't see anyway but frontal, but that wouldn't work, there had to be another way. She felt a presence behind her and a whisper in her ear. "I can hear the ticking of mines, waltzing up to the front door is out." Izmyroth whispered and Treasa nodded.

Treasa looked around and they had all gathered around her. They were looking at her as if to say, "Ok your in charge." Treasa nodded determined and looked at the group, she took the ball and rolled with it. "Darkstar, you take the water, it just stops at that wall around the corner, see if there is and under water tunnel or a perhaps a back door. David, your here with me for cover, and Izmyroth, you're with her. We'll cover you, if you find an entrance, signal us and then cover and we'll follow." She whispered and they nodded. Darkstar, in her leather slipped silently into the water like she was part of it. She disappeared into the amber stream and searched for some sort for entrance. Izmyroth waited for her to round the corner and drop into the water out of sight, then he followed like a whisper on a spring breeze.

While the others searched for another entrance, Treasa wanted to check out the guards on the front wall. She hiked up the binoculars so she could peer through at the target, and get a closer view of the windows and turrets on the front of the building. "We have three guards visible and two turrets. There are mines on the front lawn also. Hmmmm." Treasa said to David. Just then her implant went off. "We have found the back door, it's a medieval style gate, with two chains causing the gate to drop. Two guards, no windows, low light, in a large cave. Please advise." Izmyroth's voice chirped over the comm implant. Treasa smirked inside her helm and as she spoke she opened the comm implant so the others could hear. "David, grab that pulse gun. When I take out the three guards, you cover the front lawn with the gun. Remove all mines by the front path. Then I'll nail servowires for the turrets, if I can clip the wires with the rifle, the turrets won't know we're here and won't be able to move. This should attract attention to the front and be a good enough diversion for Izmyroth and Darkstar. After the fireworks start, Darkstar can take out the chains for the gates with the shock rifle, and Izmyroth can take out the two guards, you two then sneak front side and open the gate."

Treasa waited for her acknowledge signals and smirked again. "Let's do this." She said and slipped around the corner again. She was in her glory once more. In charge of a tiny, yet elite group of commandos and taking the enemy by sheer surprise. She raised the scope of her rifle to her eye and smiled. "This is how it's done." She said to David and she zeroed in on the first of the three guards. There were two in one window and one in a window farther down. She decided on the window with the two guards first. She inhaled, feeling the weight of the rifle in her hands, knowing the metal of the rifle was deathly cold now, and slipping into her Zen. She watched the guard converse with the other guard and cluelessly smile and laugh, unaware that he was closer to the end then he ever imagined. She let the rifle sink down a bit as she inhaled again and the rifle popped up just a hair. She held her breath, the rifle became still as a statue, and she squeezed her hand with no hesitation. Silently, out of the barrel sped the silvery messenger of death. It sliced through the moist air, invisible to all, and pierced it's target with astounding precision.

Quickly Treasa snapped the rifle to the left 5 degrees and quickly took in his partner who just turned to realize something was grossly wrong. When he looked out over the grounds again it was too late. Treasa, still holding her breath, snapped, aimed and squeezed her whole hand before another eye blinked. Again, no more then a split second later the second guard fell heavy to the stone castle floor. She snapped to the third guard in the far window. He didn't notice yet. Easily Treasa measured up the last guard and gave her head a little shake. "Poor fool..." she said as she drifted off slightly.

Again aim was taken, inhale, and hold. She wasn't even thinking anymore. Sniping was as common as breathing. Then the guard's face changed, and he started to move towards the other dead guards. Treasa didn't flinch as the world started to move in slow motion. She squeezed the trigger again and put the well aimed bullet through the guard's throat. Blood exploded out of the far side of his throat across the cold, stonework wall, and he fell to his knees, and with that she placed another bullet in his skull. "Let no one suffer..." she said, still not putting her rifle down. "Unless they truly deserve it." She finished as she squeezed the trigger again and a few sparks flew off the first turret. The gun rotated to face the ground, no longer functioning. "David...Go!" She said as she aimed for the second turret and easily went to pick off the servowires.

David was watching her deathly artistry, as she quickly picked off three guards and a turret in less then 30 seconds total. Her accuracy was unparalleled. When she finally told him to open fire he hesitated for a second before pulling his awe struck mind back to the task at hand. He slipped around the corner as he heard the muted firing of the final bullet, for the last turret, the end target. He placed the gun against his hip, and depressed the trigger. Tiny balls of green plasma erupted from the weapon's cold steel barrel and fell across the front lawn. There was no recoil from this weapon at all, no jump, no kick back. It was totally smooth and quickly coated the front lawn of the complex with brilliant green plasma,and causing every mine to explode down the center pass.

Deep in the caverns, Darkstar felt the warmth of the brackish water trickle across her flesh, and down on to her artificial limb. She reveled in the idea of silence and stealth. She was unaware of the firestorm her compatriots front side were creating. She felt herself meld with the darkness of the cave, and the slick textures of the water and became nothing more then a shadow.

Meanwhile, no more then twenty feet from her Izmyroth, the Lupine Soul, darted to each dark corner of cover like a beast stalking innocent prey. He could feel the enemy breathing and could smell their fear of the dark. He fed off of it like candy. He could feel his pulse race and felt his hand drop to his blackened steel blade. He pulled the blade slowly as he watched the guards lean lazily against the stone walls surrounding the gate. "Strike..." He thought to Darkstar and there was silence in response, but he didn't need a response, he could feel her raise the shock rifle and feel the slight distortion created in the air around it as it powered up. The blue light of the laser leapt from the tip of the weapon and pierced the metal chain with a spark and a the quick hiss of metal brought to a flash boil. Then the chain fell to the floor, all form lost in the assaulted link of steel.

As she let the rifle briefly charge for the next shot, only a split second, Izmyroth leapt from the shadows, holding his blade in his right hand, with the blade running back along his forearm. He came down upon the first guard with dizzying speed and with an upward swipe of the inverted blade cut the guard from his left hip across his chest and out his shoulder. Then brought his arm back upon the guard in a stab to the throat. The guard fell to the ground in a useless lump of flesh and the life faded quickly from his eyes. The second guard scrambled to pull his pistol, all the while watching his partner gutted by this animal. Izmyroth snapped his head around to glare at the other guard with rage from his crouching position over the dead guard's corpse. With powerful legs he sprung out of his crouch with blistering speed and pounced on the other guard. He brought the blade neatly across the man's throat and stabbed through the eye socket, piercing his brain and killing him almost instantly. He wiped the blade on the man's soiled uniform and sheathed it, although he was craving the taste of blood, now was not the time. By the time he stood the gate had crashed open and Darkstar stood leaning on a natural stone pillar in the cave.

While Izmyroth was slaying the living, Darkstar was destroying yet another of man's creations, and deriving sick joy from it, no matter how small. It was man's creations that prevented her from dying, made her what she is today, a cyborg. A ghost of a human. She hated herself, and what she was and what she stood for. The success of the Empire and all it's technological advances, just so they could outlaw them as non-humans, and hunt them in the streets like animals. This was the disturbed rule of the Empire, and this is why she found peace in the arena. Someday she'd have her revenge, or die again trying. She destroyed one chain and then paused to allow the rifle it's small charge time. She watched as Izmyroth leapt from the shadows with inhuman speed, and gutted the enemy. She was convinced that if she didn't have implants in her retinas, she wouldn't have seen the blade strike the guard's flesh. The other guard allowed fear to become etched on his face as The Lupine Soul snapped his head around to focus on the other guard. He leapt with the power of ten men, covering ground that a long jumper would be jealous of, and pounced on the other guard. She looked away for only a moment to blast the second chain with the charged rifle, only to look back at Izmyroth crouched over the dead guard. The wounds were clean and deadly. She leaned on the natural stone pillar next to her and let the rifle drop so it was pointing at the ground. She watched as Izmyroth stood slowly and raised his eyes to hers. She watched his humanity come back to him slowly and then he smirked. "Shall we?" He asked and gestured to the open gate, and she nodded.

Seconds after the turrets went down an alarm sounded. Guards flooded the top of the castle wall with search lights and shock rifles. Treasa shook her head with a grin under her helmet. She raised the scope of the rifle to her eye again, and picked off the search lights quickly. All that could be heard was the pop of exploding halogen bulbs in the distance and the frantic cries of the defending team as they realized that the night was their worst enemy. "Toss a grenade as far to the left of the front lawn as you can. It will divert their attention long enough for me to pick several of them off." Treasa said to David and he nodded. He ran back to the cases and grabbed a grenade and ran back to the mouth of the cave. He pulled the pin and held the handle. "Now." She whispered to him and she slipped around the corner to pick off the first of a series of guards. As the pop of the first bullet went off, David arched his arm back, came forward with amazing power, and snapped the release on the grenade. It hurtled to the far side of the lawn, 150 feet away and rolled into the side of the rock wall. She shot another guard before sliding back to the safety of their enclave.

The grenade went off with a brilliant flash that neither Treasa or David were subjected to. She slid back around the wall and felt the steel of the rifle starting to warm with her touch. Some guards searched the night blindly for the intruders, and others shot pointlessly at the place where the grenade went off. These children were afraid, and she hated to kill them, however their fear would drive them to kill her without thought. She was left with no choice. She gazed through her scope at the dark figures on the stone wall and inhaled. Holding the gun steady like a statue she squeezed off the first shot, and slid to the right and squeezed off another. She didn't wait for the first shot to land before lining up the next. David watched in the binoculars as the guards dropped like stones in a pond. Seven of the ten died before they realized what was happening. The other three hid below the stone wall line. Weapons and bodies fell off the side of the castle and David saw an opportunity.

"Cover me." David said and took off. Treasa was left with little choice, but continued to fire the occasional shot at the upper rock wall to keep the last three pinned down. David ran up the cleared path of mines to the fallen guards. He searched their still warm corpses till he found what he was looking for. He aimed up, with a bit of an angle and fired the awkward weapon and it made a thump noise as it fired a canister up and over the ledge. He then ran hard for the enclave and dove into cover as the grenade exploded into white light and shrapnel. The cries of the three remaining guards was short and ear piercing. Treasa looked at David laying on the ground before her and nodded while smiling broadly under her helm. "Nice thinking. Nice." She said to him and he smiled up at her. Then front gate fell forward and standing behind it was Darkstar and Izmyroth. With the other team all but destroyed and the front gate fallen, the castle was theirs.


	8. Chapter 8: Puppet Master

**CHAPTER 8 : PUPPET MASTERS**

Four to fifteen apparently were really good odds for the Darkphyre team. The Senator sat in the control room with his old comrade in arms, William Stonewall. "Well Bill, better find yourself a new crew. Catch you next time." He said with his metallic voice, and a grim smile under his dark cobalt and gold helmet. Bill just shook his head, his salt and pepper hair bouncing lightly, steely hazel eyes grimly glued to the monitor.

"Children..." He said and looked slowly at The Senator. "A.J., I don't know what we're going to do, but if your team is as proficient as they seem, I won't have to worry about defense, they'll have the enemy neutralized before the enemy can leave their homes." Bill said with a strained smirk. The Senator nodded in agreement.

"I need two more for a full team, and I think I found them. Let's hope they are as good as the rest, because they come as a pair." The Senator stated, and Bill nodded, as he stood and straightened out his Imperial armor. He took The Senator's proffered hand and gave it a good shake. "Well if you give me time, I'll train new defense. If you keep neutralizing before they move, and surprising the hell out of those bastards, I'll have all the time I need to train a defense that, hopefully, we'll never have to use." Bill said looking at the cold blue eyes in the Senator's cobalt helm.

The Senator nodded, "Let's hope we won't need them. I have to go Bill, keep in touch." He said and walked out of the room.

"You too A.J." Bill Stonewall looked at the Senator's retreating back and turned down the hall for his own office. Stonewall was one of the oldest founders of the Phyre Knights team. He knew what really went on. He knew that the games really weren't games, just an out of the lime light, illegal way for the two major parties of the secret political war to duke it out.

Long ago they tried to stop the Phyre Knights and the Iron Claw from dividing the Empire with their bloody power struggle. Violence between the parties was forbidden and only the vote of the public majority could dictate the vote of that world's senator. Those senator's then voted in the public forum. However the parties weren't stopped, instead they took their bloody conflicts underground, and simply fell away from the public eye. The actual Senate of the Empire, simply figureheads. No power, no say. They were puppets of the two rival, underground, political war parties. The Senators were not to say anything their party did not sanction. This was backed up by threat of death. The public was blissfully ignorant of these developments in their fragile political machine. They thought that their vote, their voice, counted. Foolish little men with equally foolish dreams.

The Phye Knights knew that the idea of the public having a voice could never truly work, however, the idea of a more honest system with more honest parties, sharing the burduns of running an Empire seemed like a good choice. The Iron Claw would never let that happen. Being the ruling party was the only option. Annihilating the competition was the only option. The Phyre Knights knew the only way for the Empire to survive was to destroy the Iron Claw and then give the system over to new parties, with new ideals and none of the old, festering hatreds.

The other teams were all part of the elaborate cover up, created by the two original parties. The only real threat to the normal flow of the parties now are the Godlings. Strong enough to create a problem, yet lacking enough common sense to even begin playing the third party, they had become the nagging party, the insolent children. So the Phyre Knights and the Iron Claw, live on in the Arena and run the universe from the underground.

Bill Stonewall used to be a great senator for the Empire, and only Bill knew The Senator and his true identity. Bill saved him from death, gave him a new purpose, nick named him "The Senator" and with Bill's shrewd intellect, and The Senator's quick instincts, The Senator quickly learned the ropes, and moved up the ranks and became one of the heads of the Phyre Knights party. Some thought he was born for war and politics, others thought he was a cyborg sent to take over the government, and others still wondered if he was the Arena Master himself. Only Bill Stonewall held all the secrets of the Phyre Knights party, and he intended them to go to the grave with him.

Treasa looked at the others and smiled. What an impressive team of warriors they turned out to be. They were transported out of the man made arena and left in a large locker room, but this time much more modern. With it's sheet metal lockers, white walls, marble floor, and stainless steel fixtures it almost reminded Treasa of a kitchen or some other sanitary facility. It had no odor and was exceedingly clean and shiny. David wasted no time losing his armor and hitting the shower. Izmyroth followed David's lead and ditched his armor in favor of a hot shower and a dark blue cotton jump suit. As Darkstar made her way to the far side of the locker room to shower, she replaced her blue leather with another shiny black leather outfit. In the time it took Darkstar to shower and exit, Treasa had just enough time to strip out of her gear, steel cloth shirt and all, wrap herself in a towel, and stow her gear in her bag.

While in the shower she allowed the hot water to run along her body, washing the tension away. However her usual depression did not take her over, she was satisfied, not happy, but content. She belonged again, she had purpose. It was a gratifying feeling. Her mind slowly pondered the mysteries before her. What was it about the farmer turned warrior that made all her warning lights go off? Why did the cyborg woman have a Godling's sacred ring? What was the wolfman Izmyroth hiding from, and where did he get his extraordinary speed and strength from. Then there was "The Senator" his accolades seemed familiar, however she'd been in the guard for years and had never heard of such a great warrior. This was not possible. Who was he before, why was he masked in mystery? Then there was her own personal mysteries. She had traced her love's killers through the Empire to the arena, and then they discharged her before she officially started her investigation on the games. What was the Empire hiding that they didn't want her getting so close too? What was lurking behind the games? Something told her it wasn't just senseless bloodshed for the lost and amusement for the rich. It was an elaborate cover up, but for what? She found her thoughts being interrupted by a voice outside the showers. "Darkphyre...meeting in 10 minutes, in battle attire. Follow the arrows on the lighted wall displays to the board room."


	9. Chapter 9: Finding Purpose

**CHAPTER 9: FINDING PURPOSE**

Inside the board room "The Senator" was already seated and the four members of Darkfall walked in the silently sliding door. "Have a seat." The Senator rumbled from under his helmet. The four members took their seats around the table, there were two extra seats that Treasa took note of. She found herself facing the mysterious Senator from the far end of the ovular, redwood table after taking her seat. "When you are in this building you are in your battle attire. Understood?" There were nods from around the table. "You never know when you will be called upon to work your magic. Therefore you must always be prepared."

David looked uneasy in his leather board meeting chair, as comfortable as they may have been. Something about the Senator made him want to cringe, something stirring deep inside his body that he couldn't put his finger on. The only thing that he found himself wanting was for this feeling to go away, because the Senator was not a man that this farm boy wanted to trifle with. The Senator continued his speech, unknowing of what was going on in the recesses of David's mind.

"Now that we have that out of the way. You have proven yourselves well. I must say I am impressed. As a little incentive from our organization to continue your exemplary performance, I have had the establishment look into your pasts and have procured vehicles for your personal use, as well as new living quarters. When we are done here, you will be released into the Phyre Knight complex, and when we are in need of your services we will call you. This will be your new home, hidden from the Empire. You are all officially deceased. Your personal effects have been moved from your current homes to new apartments within the complex. You will eat, sleep, and stay close to each other. We need you to form a close bond with each other, and unfortunately it must be quickly. We need you to be like family to each other, with unwavering trust in the other members and their abilities." The Senator seached the eyes in the room before continuing.

"All the apartment locations are hidden well inside the Empire. Any time you wish to come to this building you can activate your comm and the transport technicians can transport you anywhere you need to go, even in the outside world. Therefore you always have an escape route, unless the place you're going is shielded." The Senator looked down the table at Treasa. "No more looking for bugs in your home, the Empire has just completely lost all contact with you people. You are now official mysteries, and missing persons to the Empire records. You belong to the Phyre Knights."

The Senator produced a holographic map from the table. He looked slowly around the table and nodded in approval. Then, he paused and looked down with a bit of a sigh. "Ladies and gentlemen, I wish I could let you leave and go to your new homes like I planned, however, things almost never go according to plan where the Iron Claw is involved." The Senator stood from his cushy executive chair, and paced the front of the room like a caged tiger. "Folks, we are two men short of a full team here." He said gesturing to the two empty chairs. "We were going to recruit them tomorrow after their second battle in the arena, but we are going to have to move now."

"Apparently the Iron Claw found out we had earmarked them as candidates, and took them. The Iron Claw doesn't know that we haven't spoken to them yet, they think that these guys are members. They are currently being tortured, because of us. It is our duty and honor to go rescue them. Then depending on the outcome, we will test them and see if they will work in this outfit. They are great fighters and well educated in survival, however they are not always predictable, or controllable." The Senator paused, "And they come as a pair."

Izmyroth shot the Senator a confused look. The Senator continued without skipping a beat. "They mentally linked, cybernetic twins, if you will. They can not be too far apart, they think alike, when one is hungry the other eats, one itches, the other one scratches, when one is aroused, the other is at full attention. If one dies, the other goes too." He paused to let the dark humor punctuate the overall meaning of their predicament. "I need them both back here alive. We might be able to save them from the Empire's curse of this, "Siamese Cat" condition, if you will. More important though is that they have knowledge we need and they are great fighters we could use. They are a multiple asset as a whole and I need you guys to bring them back whole. Understood?" He questioned and was greeted by murmured affirmatives and gentle head nods.

He nodded sharply and pressed a button on the table and a different holographic map popped up, this time a different view of the warehouse. "This is the warehouse where the men are being kept." The Senator leaned forward and tapped the button again and the image flickered and changed into two photos of the men they needed to rescue. "These are your men, they go by the arena names Kinks and Toad. Find them, escort them out, and get them back safe. They are inside Iron Claw territory, the building is shielded otherwise we'd just transport them out. You will be inserted here, in this alley, that way the guards won't see the transport flash. You will enter the sewer here," he pointed to the map and it zoomed in on the area.

Then The Senator switched to a top down sewer view. "Once in the aqueduct system, you will proceed this way to the grate under the building. Before you enter the building you will notify us and we will open fire on the front guards with laser turrets, and a few men on the roof tops around the warehouse. This will create a diversion. The alarm will sound as we open fire, so they will be focused on the front and not the cargo area. Once inside the building, you will be on your own. We will pull back, and if they take the bait all will return to normal and you will be inside with no trouble, and they won't have a clue. We have no recon since this is a spur of the moment rescue attempt. So once inside you'll be on truly be on your own. We have reason to believe they're being held here on the second floor in the office overlooking the warehouse. Find your way in and get them out. Try not to attract too much attention to yourselves as you move through the warehouse, we don't know how many guards are in there. You all ready?"

Everyone nodded and Treasa took to her feet. "Your in charge of this run, do it right and you can retain command of this outfit." The Senator said to Treasa. She nodded and replied with a crisp "Yes sir." The rest of the team rose from their chairs and looked at Treasa. The Senator pressed a different button on the table and the group was transported out to the Arsenal, retrieving their own personal weapons and then being transported out to their insert point. Out into the real world.


	10. Chapter 10: Two Odd Birds

**Chapter 10: Two Odd Birds**

The black asphalt of the street glistened brightly in the empty, black night. There was a dense humidity in the air, hanging like a heavy curtain, thick enough to pull aside with your hand. Dwarfed between the squat buildings of the industrial zone of the city, team Darkfall took to the shadows quickly. With a simple hand gesture Treasa signaled David to proceed to the sewer grate as she watched around the corner that faced the warehouse. When the coast was clear again she signaled both Darkstar and Izmyroth to follow David and begin into the sewer. She followed a moment after, darting past the open alley, and over to the sewer grate and into the catacombs under the city. Silently she slipped the grating back into place before disappearing into the black of the sewers.

Treasa accessed her comm unit and ordered a thermal scan of the area around her. Using her comm implant as a receiver the computer scanned the immediate area for life. After a moment the results were negative and she exhaled. At this point she realized she'd been holding her breath for some reason. She's been dropped into hotter zones then this, but her gut was getting the best of her. Something didn't feel right.

"Lights." She commanded with a harsh whisper through her featureless helm, even though she had a feeling things were about to go from bad to worse. The team of four flipped on the lights attached to their shock rifles. She inhaled and held it again, awaiting a firestorm of turrets or something that wouldn't show on thermal scans. They quickly surveyed the dark passage. Her pulse raced at the secrets of the darkness before them. Wait for it, wait for it and she exhaled. Nothing, the corridors were empty, in front and behind. She shook her head and was about to scold herself for being paranoid when a stone rolled around a corner about 100 feet away. The four of them spun hard to face the rolling pebble, with reflexes sharp as a knife, training their rifles on the sound. She felt all the muscles in her back tense as the floor started a low rumble. A few more rocks shot out of the side tunnel and she felt her body involuntarily start to step backwards, knowing full well what was about to happen. "Cleaner!!" Darkstar shouted as it thundered it's way around the corner and turned to face them.

The Cleaner was programmed to seek out and remove anything in the tunnels that wasn't supposed to be there. Trash, rats, alligators, and humanoids. With large spikes attached to a high speed spinning disk, it was a threat. Combined with the triangular spikes across the bottom so no debris slip under the machine, but actually forced them up into the spiked wheel for reprocessing, it became a motivation for an expeditious retreat.

There was no going around, over, under, or through. This did not sit well with David. "Shit..." David said as he started walking backwards. "That's what it's thinking, and were about to get wiped out if we don't move!" Treasa said as she turned away from the cleaner and broke into a hard sprint. The rest of the group followed suit quickly as they detoured away from their original course and prayed that the cleaner didn't move any faster. The machine, sensing it's quarry escaping, picked up the pace. "It's seems to be gaining." Izmyroth pointed out as he ran a light jog to stay with the group. Treasa was following the map from her comm implant when the picture went fuzzy and she lost contact with the Phyre Knight computer.

"I lost our connection with the base. Izmyroth, scout ahead, see if you can find us a way past this thing." Treasa said, knowing full well this was nothing for the Lupine Soul. Izmyroth nodded and sprinted off down the tunnel at twice the speed of his companions. Meanwhile, the cleaner was gaining on them, the speed of the spinning blades could be felt know on David's back, as they created a breeze down the narrow corridor. He wanted to see how close the machine was but he knew that glancing back would get him killed, so he let fear drive his body to the breaking point and ran till the muscles in his legs started to burn.

Looking ahead there was a closed off section of tube. Treasa cursed her current situation. She ran a bit harder and couldn't figure out where Izmyroth disappeared to. "Treasa, we're out of road!" David shouted over the growing rumble. "I'm aware of that, David." She replied as they came to an abrupt halt in front of the makeshift brick wall. Treasa tried kicking it to see if the makeshift obstruction would move, however there was no such luck. Darkstar pressed her back up against the wall as the cleaner got close enough to toss debris in their direction at high speed. A chunk of rock streamed by Darkstar, slicing into her human shoulder and drawing blood. She let out a yelp of pain, shouted just above the growing din. Treasa spun to face the blurred blades of death. "This is not how I want to go." Treasa found herself thinking. "Treasa?" David questioned with fear in his voice. The trio cringed further back into the brick wall, and clenched their teeth together and clamped their eyes shut. As the blades came plunging towards them there was an explosion from behind the cleaner unit and it ground to a halt inches from their bodies. Treasa again found herself exhaling. David slid down the wall to the floor, fighting the shudder of his strained muscles. The cleaner started to move slowly away from them, the blades moving in reverse, but there was no engine sound with it this time. The cleaner moved back a few yards, and then into a side alley. Treasa looked on curiously as Izmyroth emerged from the same alley a few seconds later. He walked up to the beaten and bruised trio and smiled. "Hid in the side alley, let the mechanical beast go by and then blew out the engine with my shock rifle." He paused as Treasa smiled. "All in a day's work." he said to her with a grin and helped David up off the floor.

"Where the hell are they?" The Senator growled from under his helm, and wished he could have put them through more training. "I don't know sir, I can't pick them up and the warehouse hasn't been breached yet. Last time I received a signal they were going the wrong way." A stocky young man with short, dirty blond hair and watery blue eyes, wearing an Imperial Technician's outfit responded. With speed and authority he commanded the console before him. With a large touch pad and several buttons he raced through a million motions trying to regain contact with the missing Darkfall team. "Sir, I think I have them. They are at a dead end, I should be able to..." He paused as he hit some more buttons and smirked at the monitor. "I am too good. Razor one, this is Grand Central, do you copy?" The computer wiz asked and there came a fuzzy response. "We read you loud and clear Grand Central, where were you guys. We almost got wiped out by a cleaner... but we are ok, repeat everyone is fine and we are proceeding as planned." Treasa responded, and The Senator sighed. "Give them the go ahead to proceed as planned. Try not to lose them this time Derrok." The Senator patted Derrok's shoulder and he smiled. "It won't happen again sir." Derrok responded with a nod and turned determinedly back to the monitor.

It was an easy trip back to the actual entrance under the warehouse. "Grand Central, this is Razor One, ready to move. Advise." Treasa thought over her implant and the response was crisp and quick. "Hold team." Treasa nodded and looked at her group. "We're on hold. It's up to the ground crew for now." Everyone kept an eye on the sewers around them, waiting for the next terror to emerge from one of a hundred side tunnels.

"Bill, it's your show now." The Senator said to Bill Stonewall and the gray haired military veteran took over. "Alright Hawk One, open fire on the front side, take out everyone you can, but do not advance, simply take down everyone you can from your vantage point." Bill and The Senator took to the monitors, and watched as the assault team decimated the front of the warehouse. The Senator waited for the signal, and when the alarm went off, he tapped Derrok on the shoulder and Derrok nodded.

"Razor One, move out." he said and suddenly the signal started to drop out. He started to quickly try and compensate for the shielding on the complex. "I'll stay with them as long as I can sir, but the shielding is pretty powerful." Derrok's hands started to move faster then the human eye could actually see. The Senator nodded in approval.

"Alright guys, lets move." Treasa said and she climbed the ladder to the grate and pushed it open. The noise in the complex was immense, and Treasa threw silence to the wind. As she slipped out of the grate she realized she was under a supply truck of some sort. "We're covered, let's move." She whispered down the hole to the awaiting team below. She crawled on her belly to the edge of the truck so she could see out. The sirens form the alarms were blaring and people were scattering quickly. This side of the 5 ton supply truck faced the fairly open warehouse. There were crates and boxes of every description lying about. However none of it was adequate cover, or at a close enough distance. She was convinced that there was no way out from under the truck this way, so she started to scurry to the back of the truck. Her pulse raced as the enemies feet stomped by, mere inches from her face and the edge of the truck. Adrenaline burned like acid in her veins and she thrived on it. She waited for the last guy to run by and for Izmyroth to recover the sewer entrance. "Follow on my signal." Treasa said and David nodded, passing the message to the rest of the team. Treasa waited for the opening she wanted and rolled out from under the truck and to her feet. Keeping a low profile she ran for some boxes about 15 feet from the truck. Slamming her back against the wall, she raised her rifle in a harsh motion and she searched for the enemy. She found no one, and proceeded to signal David out.

Treasa raised her sniper rifle to her eye from behind the crates and surveyed the area. She saw the office on the far side of the building and she could see a man with a gun to another man's skull shouting at a third man. The man with the gun wore an Iron Claw tatoo on his bare biceps, and the other two men were from the pictures, Kinks and Toad. Suddenly the man cocked the gun and pressed it into the second guy's temple. Treasa inhaled and held her gun at the ready. She sighted up the assailants temple, and exhaled. She inhaled and held it, trying to slow her racing pulse and the rifle came to rest as she squeezed her whole hand and the weapon fired quickly and accurately.

She dropped back behind the boxes and looked over to the truck, signaling Darkstar out. Treasa stood again and placed the rifle to her eye and saw that the man with the gun was gone and the other two were struggling to get out. One of them placed their bound hands in the air and Treasa smiled. "No problem guys." She whispered to herself and sighted in the rope binding his hands together and fired the rifle. It quickly unbound the rope and the freed hands snapped down and a few seconds later the freed man was out of his seat and freeing the other man. The alarm was still sounding, and something was going wrong, leaving team Darkfall little time to move fast. "Darkstar and David you two cover the floor, Izmyroth find us a way out, I'll go get the guys." she said and slid around the side of the truck and towards the ladder that led to the catwalk and the office.

Darkstar slipped around the side of the truck and looked around the building. She could see men running wildly to the front of the building and down the main hall. A wounded man ran down the hall and left a trail of blood on the cold concrete floor. Darkstar ran to the door and slipped it shut. She signaled David to help her move some large barrels in front of the doorway. After blocking the main entrance into the bay, They ran across the floor of the warehouse and searched for other, secondary entrances.

Izmyroth could hear that the weapons outside the building had not ceased fire yet, and that was not a good thing. The firestorm was supposed to start and cease just as quickly. This was probably not a good sign. He could hear movement to all sides of the building, however the Phyre Knights were only making a frontal assault, this would mean that the sewer entrance was probably compromised also. Going back through the sewers was out. They needed to escape quickly in a flash. Through a tiny window he caught the glimpse of two sports cars outside and smiled. If he could get them to the sports cars, the two new guys were supposedly retired rally guards, and could out drive your standard human. What little history they had on these two said that they were given the desert detail with high tech sports cars, beefed up with super air filtering systems, industrial suspensions, turbo charged engines, and the like. There was nothing in the desert that could out run them, or escape them. So now all Izmyroth had to do was find a way to get there quick. He searched the open warehouse and came up with only one answer. He slowly looked up and saw the roof. Sewer or roof, sewer or roof, he had to choose quickly.

He leaned over to the edge of the truck and could hear the echo of people coming towards them. Once the Iron Claw saw that grate had been tampered with, they would know what was going on.

Izmyroth opened into full wolf mode and leapt from the floor to the base of the ladder and scurried up the ladder skipping rungs and up the safety rail for the catwalk. He leapt to the hatch in the ceiling and hung by one arm, opening the latch with the other. The hatch swung down, taken by gravity, and he was in free fall for only a moment, yet never letting go of the hatch. When the hatch reached the bottom of it's swing arch it was a bit of a jolt, but nothing he couldn't handle. Keeping his inhuman grip on the hatch, he swung his body toward the opening and up towards the ladder that was hidden behind the locked hatch. He reached with his right arm and swung on his left. He grabbed the bottom rung of the ladder and quickly pulled himself through with an amazing feat of inhuman strength. As he made it through the roof he leapt off the ladder to the roof and turned to survey the roof quickly. The predator in his blood came to the surface and he howled at the night sky, the adrenaline in his veins getting the best of him. If only for a moment.

Izmyroth regained his human side and sighed. He kicked the latch on the retracted ladder and it slid down and slammed into the catwalk. "Treasa, I have an escape, please be advised all. We escape by way of roof. The escape ladder is on the catwalk." Izmyroth ran to the side of the warehouse roof and looked over the side. Team Phyre Knight was out of sight but the Iron Claw was under attack from someone else. Izmyroth focused his keen ears and could catch faint murmuring of the Godlings. They decided that they would assault the Iron Claw this evening. A better distraction then they could have ever hoped for, however the Iron Claw were losing ground and team Darkfall did not want to be stuck between the two warring parties. "Be advised, the Iron Claw seems to be under attack from the Godlings, and they are losing ground. May I suggest we speed this up." Izmyroth thought over his comm implant and tossed a rope over the edge of the building leading down to the two sports cars, securing it to several steel poles sunk into the stone work of the roof.

Treasa nodded to herself as she entered the office. All was silent, her two escortees had disappeared and she was stumped. "Where the..." was all she could get out before a set of boot heels swung down from the ceiling and landed squarely in her chest. If it wasn't for her armor it would have completely knocked the wind out of her. She rolled to her feet and crouched low with her tiny hands in front of her and watched her assailant. He dropped from his perch above the door jam, and another man dropped from the ceiling as well. She froze and threw her arms in the air. "Wait, wait, were here to rescue you. I am Treasa with the Phyre Knights, if you want to survive, please come with me." She blurted out and the two men relaxed a little. They smiled and stepped closer. One was tall, about 6'3", and very wiry. He had dark hair and dark eyes, and a sharp flash of intelligence in his eyes, the deadly kind. "Shall we?" The taller one asked and the shorter, only by inches, nodded as well. "I think we shall." He responded with the same dark hair and eyes. He was more muscular, and had a dancing humor behind the veil in his eyes. Treasa had a funny feeling about these two. "Alright then boys, lets go." Treasa said and they looked at each other and smiled. "David, Darkstar, we have the package, let's get out of here before the Godlings join the party." She thought over her implant. There were immediate affirmatives all round and she made for the ladder on the catwalk.

David nodded to Darkstar and pointed up to the catwalk and their escape route. "You first dear." He said and Darkstar nodded with a tiny smirk. There was a first time for everything. It was the first time since the prosthetic limb that someone was treating her like a human being, and called her "dear" none the less. She ran hard from her boxes to the back of the truck. When she was safe David followed. They slowly made their way through the boxes as a slamming noise could be heard on the front door. Then another, and yet another. They were trying to make their way back into the bay, but the barricade was keeping them stationary. David had just made it to the ladder and Darkstar was making her way up when the door exploded open and a second later troops came pouring in through the dust and smoke. "Move Darkstar." David shouted over the deafening noise in the room. She heard Treasa tell her to keep moving in her mind and she continued her escape. Shock rifles were fired randomly in their direction, and the world seemed to move in slow motion. David squatted down at the base of the ladder to avoid the blasts, but Darkstar was stuck on the ladder. She climbed feverishly but a beam ricocheted off her prosthetic limb and she winced out of instinct. She was finally at the top of the ladder, what felt like an eternity later, and laid down on the cat walk. "Move David, I'll cover you." She thought to him and he jumped up and started to climb. She slid her shock rifle over the edge of the walk and started blasting holes in everyone she could.

Treasa had just finished ushering the two men up the ladder to the roof and was about to climb herself when the blast of the bay doors dropped her to the floor, on her chest. She sprawled out on the catwalk and lay there, watching the last two members of her team pinned down by the onslaught of Iron Claw. She slid her sniper rifle over the edge of the walk and started to take off heads for cover. She thought over her comm link, "Darkstar, keep moving, I've got your back." She watched Darkstar scurry up the ladder as quickly as possible, her artificial limb bouncing a laser shot back into the crowd. Treasa took aim on the assailant and expelled his head clear off his shoulders with a deathly accurate shot. His body slumped to the ground, the muscles in his body twitching and pulling the trigger on his Shock Rifle one last time. His wayward shot clipped the soldier next to him through the chest, taking him to the floor like a domino effect. Treasa refrained from laughing at the sight, but allowed a hidden smirk under her dark helmet.

This was where the humor stopped as a grenade clattered across the walkway with a seemingly innocent enough metallic bouncing sound. Darkstar's eyes went wide and time slowed to a dull crawl. It didn't seem like Treasa or Darkstar were going to get to the explosive in time to toss it back into the crowd. Treasa's heart beat like gunfire in her skull, she just couldn't move any faster, It was echoing so loudly she wanted to cringe, it had gotten to the point where there was nothing but her heartbeat and the menacing grenade on the steel grid work, just out of her reach. "I did not come this far to die like this." she thought in a flash. Just when Darkstar and Treasa knew they weren't going to make it, out of nowhere David had leapt from the ladder, over Darkstar, to the catwalk deck and slapped the grenade back into the crowd landing with a twist and the clap of his steel armor on the deck. A split second later the crowd erupted in smoke and flame. Some dead, some burning, some coughing so hard they couldn't see past the tears and others blinded from the blast, this was their chance. They each took to the ladder expeditiously, attempting to avoid stray shots through their smokey cover.

Roof side Izmyroth helped them out of the hatch one at a time. Smoke covered their faces and blood ran from tiny lacerations on their flesh, but overall they were fine. "Where are they?" Treasa asked Izmyroth, not seeing their new members anywhere. He smirked and pointed over the side. "Waiting for you guys so we can escape." He replied and Treasa was baffled, but the Iron Claw was advancing so she didn't question. She kicked the hatch shut and pointed at David. "Weld that hatch." She smirked in her helm again at the sight of the once mild mannered farm boy turning into one of the best fighters she'd ever seen. He blasted the seam of the hatch in a few different spots melting the metal with repeated shots of his shock rifle. This would buy them time, but they had to be sending troops front side. So while David sealed the hatch, she ushered Izmyroth and Darkstar to the edge, and down the rope.

Darkstar waited for Izmyroth to get to the bottom before beginning her decent. Her heart was still racing in her chest, but they were almost out. As she made he way down the rope she felt he mind start to tingle, and her vision started to fade. The blood that ran from the open wound on her human arm, the terrible gash caused by the cleaning machine in the sewer, was starting to catch up with her. She stopped her decent, her breathing erratic, trying to cling to the rope for stability, but the darkness won. The darkness always won. It crept in from the recess of her vision and took over as her mind lost it's fragile grip over her half human body. She fought to the bitter end, but the darkness enveloped her and caused her to lose her grip on reality, as well as the rope that she had a death grip on.

Treasa watched helplessly as the life in Darkstar's eyes faded and they rolled up into her head. "Darkstar!" She shouted throwing her arm over the edge, but Darkstar was just out of reach. She watched helplessly as Darkstar leaned back, released her grip on the rope and plummeted to the ground three stories down. She survived all this to die as a stain on the asphalt. Treasa could have died a thousand times as she watched Darkstar fall. Then, just as the black asphalt looked to be right under Darkstar's limp body, she stopped just above the pavement. Izmyroth, with his inhuman strength and razor sharp reflexes, stepped forward caught Darkstar's limp, dead weight body from slamming into the pavement. Every stopped heart in the group quickly jumped to life, and Treasa felt her body come out of shock, into a brief cold sweat. Treasa sighed and thanked Izmyroth over her comm. "Let's move folks, we need to get Darkstar back to base." Treasa said and she ushered David over the edge, then followed quickly as the slamming started to pick up on the sealed hatch.

Two cars with Iron Claw logos on them awaited. They were beefed up, high tech sports cars and the new members of team Darkfall were ready to drive. Kinks took Darkstar and Izmyroth and David jumped into the other identical car with Treasa and driver Toad. The commandeered Iron Claw vehicles hummed to life and lit up the alley with halogen headlamps. The reflection of the white lights on the moist asphalt was almost blinding. The quiet of the night alley was shattered with the distant shouts of armed men approaching. Around the corner came a collection of Iron Claw and Toad shook his head. "Bowling?" he thought to his other half and looked over to the other car and Kinks shook his head yes. "You clear and I'll follow." Kinks thought and Toad looked forward again, "The last place I'd stand," he started as he red lined the tachometer, grinned and popped the clutch, "is in front of me." he said to the Iron Claw blockade. The car launched from it's stationary position, with a chirp of the tires on the wet asphalt.

T

heir brain working as one, Kinks could see what his artificial brother was seeing and he could feel his heart start to race as he watched the car approach the line of Iron Claw. "Move, for Christs sake, move!" Kinks thought to the human barricade, but was to no avail. He felt the jar of the full speed strike, he watched several bodies splatter, torn apart by the speed of the car on impact, others were thrown harmlessly to the sides of the alley. He continued to watch through Toad's eyes till he knew it was clear to take off with the wounded. Following suit with his abducted Iron Claw vehicle, Kinks red lined it, popped the clutch, and suddenly the car took off. "Our cars in the desert were so much better." Toad thought to his other half, and Kinks smiled. He down shifted, took a corner, punched the accelerator, up shifted and shook his head as the tires squealed slightly against the asphalt in the corner. "Yeah, our old cars were much better. These are like high speed bricks." After a few moments of traveling, just outside the industrial zone, a signal was finally heard from The Phyre Knight headquarters. Looking quickly behind them, there was no Iron Claw members giving chase. Treasa gave a sigh of relief and listened carefully to the fuzzy signal she was receiving through her comm implant. It crackled, and died, then would reappear in the back of her mind.

They pulled into an alley a few moments later, an alternate pick up area, outside the reach of the Iron Claw shields, and climbed out of the cars. "This is team Razor, ready for pick up. And make it quick, they may have tailed us." Treasa said over her comm and looked at the rest of the group. "Affirmative Razor, coming home." The voice responded and they all disappeared in brilliant flashes of light.


	11. Chapter 11: Black Lotus VS Damien

**CHAPTER 11 : Black Lotus vs Damien**

"I want to know what the hell happened here tonight and why our captives are gone?" A stocky man asked, his round face hiding his anger well, assisted by his blond goatee and watery blue eyes. It was the grin that frightened people, it was the kind of grin that was in plain sight, but not to be trusted. His stocky frame stood tall on a pair of calves that looked like tree trunks. In his broad hands he clutched a cell phone that was cracking under the pressure of his huge curled fist. "Wait, I have another question." He looked around his board room at the fear filled faces, "How did we not know that those sorry excuses for human flesh, the "Godlings", were going to attack either? People, I would like some answers here, or do I have to send out my personal assassin to find me a scapegoat for this blunder, and have them disposed of?" He waited a moment and nodded.

"I am furious right now." He said, quietly, yet whispering with enough venom to kill a village, then stood up straight and smiled at the room. "I'll be right back." He tossed his cell phone on the table, and it clattered across the marble as he walked away from the table and out the door. As the door shut, he started to march down the hall. His empty, blue eyes glanced down at his arm where he reached for his watch. He smirked again as he looked at the watch and pressed one of the side buttons. The board room erupted in a contained fireball behind him and he laughed a good, hard belly laugh. "Next time I ask a question, I want an answer, and it had better be the one I want to hear." He said to no one in particular and continued to laugh his was down the hall.

For the first time in about two days Treasa was getting some well deserved rest. It was a long few days with a lot of change, a lot of stress and after all is said and done she was still alone. Her new room was spectacular. Spacious, with any book she wished at her disposal, and a library of music unrivaled by any other. The kitchen was automated, she gave an order and it was transported to her from a kitchen somewhere else in the building. The Phyre Knight leaders were also gracious enough to give her anything she wanted, any amount of money, any set of clothing, or any vehicle she wished for. She was completely pampered, just for being a mercenary. Yet the one thing she wanted, she couldn't have. She wanted her life back. Her life, her innocence, her love. No amount of pampering could ever give that back. Yet, she was a bit happier now then she was, yes, at least she had purpose now. Someone needed her and the life that she forged out of vengeance and hatred.

So she retreated to her new bathroom and filled the bath with hot water and some sort of soap bead things. She went back to the living room to retrieve herself a book, select some music to be played on the apartment wide system and ordered a cup of tea. With the soft sounds of Mozart playing, a copy of Shakespeare's Hamlet and her cup of herbal tea, she retreated to her bath. She sat the items gently on the edge of the black marble bath and slipped out of her robe. Her bumps, lacerations and aches healed by a quick shot of the healing pod, she slipped into the bath water. She settled back with her tea, and her book and relaxed. Enjoying the fact that she didn't have to wonder about who was watching her anymore, or that she'd be shot at in a moments notice, her body relaxed. She was asleep in moments, for the first time in years, and never did read her book, but there would be plenty of time to do that later anyway. Well, at least in theory.

"Alright people, I need some ideas here. We are losing power in the Senate and the Empire is slipping out of our grasp. I will not have those pansy ass Phyre Knights making all the calls. First, they are always at least one step ahead of us. Someone want to tell me why?" The stocky man with the blond goatee asked. The people in the secondary board room looked at him with fearful faces, all save for two. The first sat reclined in his office chair and looked intently at his boss from behind dark sunglasses. He wore black leather combat boots that ran up to his upper calves, and their heels currently resided on the dark marble board table. His black fatigue pants were tucked into his boots. His black steel cloth shirt was tucked into his fatigue pants and his auto-mag belt with loaded weapon, strapped to his hip, topped it off. His face was stout with dark goatee, mustache, and his hair was black, kept short, about an inch or so off his scalp. "You have a leak boss." He said and the blond man with the goatee looked at him. "No kidding Damien. So what do you suggest we do about it?" He prodded Damien and Damien returned with an evil smirk. "Well, beings that I am your newly appointed security director and right hand. I'm gonna do the job my predecessor couldn't do. Find the leak, torture the maggot and kill them.", he paused for a moment, and adding as an after thought, "Sir." He visibly looked up at his superior over the edge of his black sunglasses. The blond man with the goatee stared at him intently for a moment and the smiled. "Good, that would be the correct answer." He shifted from the head of the table and started to circle slowly, like a caged animal.

"All right people, here's the plan. While my chief security advisor is rooting out our traitor, you people will be preparing for a mass invasion on Phyre Knight headquarters. It will start with myself placing a resolution on the Imperial Senate floor, and I will call an emergency vote. As head of the Iron Claw party, this will not be questioned. I will use the recent 'Godling' assault on our warehouse, their lack of political readiness, as well as their bid to be recognized as the third party in the Empire as the reason for the vote. When we get the Senate together it will be myself giving the reason for the meeting and then my suggested answer, the complete halting of all negotiations with the Godlings as well as quelling their genetic experimentation with the use of complete force. I will suggest wiping them off the face of the planet. Then the Phyre Knight leader will step up to offer his opinion and alternate solution. Something effective, because they can not deny the assault on our warehouse, but not as violent. Like the pansy asses they are. They'll suggest some sort of special negotiations to weed out the trouble makers in the Godlings section and, yeah, whatever." The stocky man dimmed the board room lights with a single voice command and lit up the hologram display in the center of the table.

"This is 'The Senator'. He has no name, no past, and as far as I am concerned, he has no future." The hologram on the table rotated so each board member could see the full metal helm of the "Senator". The stocky blond rubbed his hands together menacingly, and continued. "Bill Stonewall retired his position and gave it to this hotshot recruit and he ran with it. 'The Senator' is quite possibly one of the shrewdest, quickest, most dangerous, not to be trusted, senators the Empire has ever seen. He enters the hall in his full Imperial Guard armor, no one has ever seen his face but possibly Bill Stonewall himself. The "Senator" makes some of the most radical calls on the senate floor, and because of the charisma he oozes from the cracks of that suit, the people will follow him to the ends of the planet, and off it if need be. He is the reason we are losing power in the Empire, and he is a staple in the Phyre Knight army." He turned the lights back up, and stopped to take a deep sip of the ice water on the table next to him, clearing his throat before continuing.

"When he gets the call for the emergency meeting, he will jump in his limo and make his way to the senate floor expiditiously. On his way to the building he will be vulnerable to an assassin's attack. We will have a highly trained driver to take advantage of the lowered security of the 'Senator's' drive to the senate floor. Now, yes, I realize the limo has precautions of it's own, however, we have a few tricks up our own sleeves. Our driver knows not to get caught, all of our vehicles will be unmaked, untraceable, and uncatchable. We will hijack limo, kidnap the 'Senator', torture him, extract all the secrets of the Phyre Knight army from him and then kill him. Oh the fun this will be. I don't want this traced back to us, at all. However, with 'The Senator' out of the way, the Phyre Knights will fall apart, and then I will give the order to move in. As they are scrambling to pick up the pieces they will be completely off guard. Any questions?"

As he looked across the table, one young lady, the only other person in the room not to carry open fear on her face, raised her hand and the stocky man looked at her. "Well, sir, beings that I am your new chief of military, I want to point out something that might be a glitch in the plan, if I may?" She questioned quietly. She knew to be very careful not to upset Janos. Cautiously she proceeded. "Well, Janos, won't the 'Senator' have agents with him, possibly in the limo, or maybe an escort. You know to help thwart people attempting what were planning?"

Janos smiled, and nodded. He liked that she had the nerve to question him. He took in her tiny frame, mahogany skin and ebony eyes, all the while wondering what it was that made such a petite person earn the title 'Black Lotus'. However her profile screamed of her ex-military, turned hit-woman for hire, deeds. He let his thoughts drift back to the issue at hand. "That is a good point, and I am planning on it." He replied. "Our man only has to make one surprise shot. When your on that blind corner, there is no room for security, that's why it is so tight everywhere else, cause there is no safety in a blind corner, or a one way street. Your open to the world." Janos cracked an evil smile and leaned back on his heels a bit. "And that will be the 'Senator's' undoing."

Black Lotus shook her head, knowing full well that Janos' idea was a deeply foolish one, but she was not the one on the line here, he was. "As you wish, Janos. I will have your other drivers and vehicles equiped and briefed by morning." With that Black Lotus excused herself from the remainder of the meeting. She would require additional time to make several contacts and begin processing the high end, unmarked vehicles that Janos would be needing for his hairbrained scheme. She had a terrible gut feeling about this whole plan, and after years of surviving on instinct, to ignore what her instincts were telling her was going to ruin her. Against Janos' wishes, Black Lotus decided her gut feelings had been right so far and changed the plans ahead without questioning Janos first. It was for both there own good, his life and her advancement.

Treasa was awakened by a faint chime ringing through out her new apartment. She had dozed off in the bath only moments earlier. She slipped into her towel and walked at a lingering pace to her front door. When she peeked through the spy glass, she was greeted by David, staring blankly at the ceiling outside her door. She smiled to herself and shook her head. For someone so tall, and muscular he was so innocent at heart. She reached for the door knob and turned it to the right. David snapped his head down and to the front as he realized the door was opening. He looked slightly embarrassed to be caught staring at the ceiling like a school boy waiting to ask his third grade crush out on a date. Again she found herself smiling at him, then she watched as his face turned a deep crimson, and he averted his eyes. "I'm sorry Treasa, I've interrupted you, I'll come back later." He turned to walk away, quickly escaping the embarrassment at seeing his team mate in her bath towel. She rolled her eyes slightly and kept smiling.

"No, David, it's ok, I was just getting dressed now. Please come in and have a seat while I get changed."

She spun on her bare heel, and walked back in the house, holding her towel in one hand and ran the other free hand through her long, auburn hair. Droplets of water ran down her bare shoulders to disappear beneath the hidden recess of her fuzzy, blue bath towel. David followed her inside willingly, uncomfortable with the situation he had gotten himself into. However, he found himself unable to remove his eyes from the bare skin just below Treasa's towel line, from the droplets of water that were sliding down her bare skin. He felt something awaken inside him that scared him slightly, right down to the very core. This was the woman his mother warned him about. She was dark and mysterious, like a black widow. From her color shifting hazel eyes, to her long, silken hair, soft skin, and long legs, she was unique, like a single candle. That individual light you were compelled to stare into and get lost, for better or for worse. He felt drawn to her, like a moth to a flame, paralyzed.

Treasa couldn't help but smile at David and his farm boy morals. She slipped her silken legs into a pair of worn jeans, and slipped an oversized, tan sweater over her head, and petite torso. She pulled her wet hair out from under the sweater collar and let it loose in mid air. It fell heavy against her sweater covered back. She walked back out into the living room and found David rooting through her book collection. She watched for a moment, and then made her way to the kitchen. "Would you like a drink?" She asked, making him aware that he was no longer alone. "Water is fine, thanks." He responded as he entered the tiny kitchen slowly. He was still trying to shake the tingle from his body, and the picture of Treasa in her towel...all that porcelin skin. He gave his head a brief shake.

She approached him and handed him his water. "So what brings you here this evening, David?" She sat in one of her leather chairs, and David took the other. "I am not sure, I guess I am trying to find out more about the people I work with. I don't consider myself a fighter, I am a farmer, peaceful, nurturing. I stumbled into this whole thing for the wrong reason and it frightens me to think that it actually fits me like a glove." He was staring into his glass of water, lost in thought and Treasa's heart went out to him. She remembered the pain she felt the first time she took a life, and how frightened she was that it came so easily to her. "Does it ever become ...easier?" He asked, looking up from his glass to meet her eyes. She hesitated only a moment debating between truth and his fragile state of mind and decided truth was the only option.

"No." She said and his eyes dropped back to his glass sadly. "It will become second nature, the act will become easier, but the weight of it never does. In the Guard I took lives daily for the Empire, and I became very good at it, but I never thrived in it, like the media portrayed. I actually hated what I had become. I can never think of the lives I've taken, it hurts too much. Sometimes I don't have to. Their faces come to me at night and they will stay with me forever. Easier, no. It doesn't become easier, just more recurrent." She said.

David looked shattered, but he needed to know that it wouldn't get any easier, so he wasn't looking for a relief that would never come. "Take solace that you are on a mission that will eventually become your freedom. If you can help me put an end to the games we will be free. You can go back to farming, back to living." He looked up at her with curious eyes.

"David, I was on a mission, personal and for the Empire. I was weeding out corruption in the political arena. So no one else would have to suffer because of their own political stand, like my Alex." She tried with every ounce of her being to keep her emotions under wraps. Weakness here would cause David's trust in her to falter.

"When they took Alex, my whole life fell to pieces. I joined the guard for revenge, but when all was said and done, I had destroyed those responsible, but then I had no purpose. I thought about it and realized it wasn't the people, but the system that nurtured those types of people, and their parties. Suddenly my job wasn't revenge, but the safety of all those willing to have a voice. They had a right to speak without fear of being bullied. I weeded out all the corruption, up to the top, and from the top, it led here, to the games. As soon as I found that out I was honorably discharged. The Empire I slaved to protect was now hiding the truth from me. So here I am, living the life of the criminals I hunted. But when the corruption is cleared out, everyone will be safe, not just those in absolute power. The games are the key though, this is it. If I can crack this, the Empire's political arena will be free and safe for good people to run, not just the puppets of the major parties."

She looked into David's eyes and saw more confusion then relief, but he trusted her. She decided it was time to change the subject. "Why don't we get the others and head out for a drink?" She asked and he nodded stiffly. "I could use one." He replied quietly as he forced his strained body out of the chair, and towards the door. "I'll be right out, just want to change my clothes and fix my hair." She said to David, and he nodded to her, but it was clear he was lost in thought.

"Is there anything else you need attached to this vehicle to ensure absolute success in your mission?" Black Lotus said into her view screen. The image on the other end was slightly scrambled, with a dark figure on the reply. "Nope, just a heavy armor package, good tires, and good brakes. When the travel plan is ready I will give you all the waypoints, leave it to me, and be ready for recovery when I give the word. Then I want money, room and board and a high up position with your organization. If I don't like the way it looks, I bail." The screen went blank, and Black Lotus was alone again.

She leaned back in her office chair and observed her office through the dark. Somber wood panel walls, well polished mahogany desk, black leather office chair, and a single brass lamp on the desk, next to her 9" comscreen. The lamp's dim light barley cut through the dark interior, but it accented the office decor with a grim perfection. Ancient tribal masks adorned the walls, with long barbed spears accompaning them. The masks almost moved in the darkness. Haunting and truly disturbing. She took in a deep breath and fed off the evil that permeated the room. Slowly she let a small, wicked leer spread across her sienna lips. She was going to save Janos from his foolish plan, and then maybe she could get something better out of this deal then that bumbling hothead Damien and his "destroy the world" attitude. See, Black Lotus saw the waste in destroying the world. She'd much rather run it, and mold it into her society, to be reveared, and finally worshiped, like the Goddess she was.

This was all well and fine, however a very slow moving process for the Black Lotus. She would love to be able to stop kissing this bloated, over dramatic, white man's swollen ass. However she needed to keep her temper, and her pride, in check. She also wanted more then anything to get her hands on that glory whore Treasa Firestar. "Top soldier three years running...I should have killed you when I had the chance." Black Widow snarled at a holo picture of Treasa from right out of the Imperial Academy. Soon she would have her chance. Once the "Senator" was locked away in Iron Claw dungeons his team of washed up heros would attempt to rescue him, and Black Widow would have her final victory.

Black Widow, lost in thoughts of vengance, was satisfied with the way events were unfolding. She had Janos's half baked plan turned into a full fledged operation, she would soon have her personal revenge. When the call came days later her plan was still a little rough around the edges, and she would have preferred to have more time to refine it, but Janos was forging ahead. She recieved the message that Janos had called the emergency vote and she had 20 minutes to move. Instantly her quiet order was thrown into organized chaos. She contacted her mystery driver and gave him the go ahead and while she couldn't see his face, she could hear his malevolent grin. Now she needed to send out her decoy drivers and operation "Stolen Hawk" was in the works.


	12. Chapter 12: Operation Stolen Hawk

**Chapter 12: Operation Stolen Hawk**

At the privately owned Phyre Knight tavern, the Golden Phoenix, Treasa, David, Izmyroth, and Darkstar sat. They each had a drink and were soaking in the dim candle light, while softly reliving their pasts to one another. "I have not trusted humanoids in a very long time. My lupine family was killed by them, my life was stolen by them when I was sent to prison, and now I am forced to fight for my freedom, like a side show, for the rest of human kind to enjoy." Izmyroth was calm, in a detached way, but the anger and hatred in his eyes burned brightly behind that cool veil of detached calmness. "I wish to go home to the wilderness and what is left of my clan and continue to protect them. I believe that you people will help me get home. You have watched my back, you have entrusted the 'wildman' with your lives a few times now, and you are all as driven to return to your old lives as I am." He looked up from the table and into each of the faces. "I do trust you with my life, all of you." He finished quietly, and there were brief smiles, but a lot of sorrow and pain at the table.

David had his family killed, and has no home or people to go back to. He wanted his freedom badly, but what would he do with it once he had it? He wasn't sure, he thought of going back to farming, but would it be too painful without his family around? He had so many questions unanswered, and felt so alone. These people were his family now. He knew that they would be his only chance at rebuilding is life. He trusted them to help him out of the mess he got himself into in a moment of revenge and desperation. Treasa seemed to be keeping an eye on him and he was quite ok with that. He remembered sitting at home and watching the holovised exploits of Treasa Firestar on the news. She was weeding out corruption and evil in the government, and she was good at it. Top soldier three years running. Yes, if David was to have a protector, he was glad it was Treasa Firestar.

Darkstar was a product of the Empire's discarded Godlings. Kidnapped for study by the Godlings, her mind was erased, she had her arm removed and replaced with the prosthetium one, and she had to fight her way out of the Godling stronghold before they stole anymore of her humanity. This was where she recieved the Godling's signet ring, she took it from one of her slain captors. She escaped with her life and the pleasure of knowing that her captors and torturers were dead, however she had no idea who she was, where she came from, or who her family once was. She had nothing. Most of humanity looked down on her because she was no longer human but partially augmented. However she now looked at Izmyroth as her guardian angel. No one had shown her any compassion. This group looked past her imperfections and trusted her and Izmyroth saved her where most humans would have let her die.

Treasa went last and told the same tale to Izmyroth and Darkstar that she told to David earlier about freedom from fear and corruption. About rebuilding their lives in a rebuilt Empire. After all that they nodded to each other. Candle light danced in each of their eyes like flickering hope. They were truly a group of people with nothing to lose, but with the hopes of being able to start over again... eventually.

"Darkfall, board room, 3 minutes." Came the comm unit call. Drinks were left standing alone on the table, and chairs were quickly emptied. Two minutes later, four of the six team Darkfall members were reaching the board room. The other two were already seated. Kinks and Toad were already in the room. They all nodded politely to each other and took their seats. Moments later they were joined by the "Senator". He strode into the room in his full battle gear, newly polished armor, with all his accolades, ribbons and medals gleaming brightly in the board room lighting. Treasa was under the impression they were about to be on an escort mission, simply because Imperial Guards only were their accolades to formal functions of the highest caliber.

"I have called you all here for your next mission. It's a little unusual for my team to escort, but all the other offensive teams are currently on missions." He paused in thought for a moment. "Honestly, I'd rather have my team guarding me any day. You people are the best we have and this assignment is going to be simple in comparison to your other missions so far. Get me to the Imperial Court, and get me back. Got it?" He asked as he turned his masked face to view the room. "Kinks and Toad had successful surgery and are now separate, and free thinking, however still our best team drivers. Toad, you have the point vehicle, Kinks, you have the limo with myself. Treasa and Darkstar, you have the motorcycles, David the rear car, Izmyroth the rear car turret. Keep it simple, and as quick as legally possible. We have 10 minutes to get to the Senate Chambers at the Imperial Court. Let's move.

The escort group was transported in, and cleared the area around the vehicles. Toad moved forward in the alley with the point car, a fast, moderately armored, highly maneuverable street racer, black with the Phyre Knight emblem on the two doors. Treasa and Darkstar started their matching black motorcycles and waited for the Senator to be transported in. Treasa waited at the back door of the limo, Darkstar had her shock rifle trained on every building roof she could find. Kinks had the limo running and ready to go, David and Izmyroth were loaded in the armored buggy, with the turret searching for a reason to unleash it's flesh melting plasma beam.

"Hawk incoming." said Derrok over the group's comm units and everyone tensed up, ready for anything. There was a brief flash, the Senator was next to the limo, Treasa opened the heavy armored door, let him in the car, and slammed the door behind him. She banged the roof of the limo twice to let Kinks start moving out with the point car. "Package wrapped, move out." Treasa said over her comm unit, as she ran behind the limo to her motorcycle and looked over to Darkstar, already mounted and pulling behind the already moving column of vehicles. Treasa's heart was starting to pound in her chest, "So far so good." She thought to herself and pulled up to the rear of the column and waited for the longest five minute ride of her life.

They were just about inside the shield that extended for three blocks around the Imperial Court when the joyride they were on ended abruptly. "This is the point car, I have a slow rider up front here, please advise." The column started to slow. Treasa had a bad vibe about the whole thing. "Heads up team, I have a feeling things are going to get crazy. Point, do not stop, drive through the other vehicle if need be under no circumstance do you stop. You get the package to the tree, no matter what." Treasa said over her comm and Toad responded affirmative. "Darkstar and I are on our way up to try and move them without you having to drive through them." Treasa looked over at Darkstar as they drove up the sides past the armored buggy and next to the limo.

Without warning the limo veered to the right and slammed into Darkstar. Her leg smashed in between the bike and the limo in a shower of sparks and squealing metal. She screamed in agony and the limo kept going. Then with her one leg broken and bleeding, Darkstar lost balance, and started a slow spin to the right. The back end came out from under Darkstar and the bike went smashing into the ground on Darkstar's other leg. The bike bounced hard off the wet pavement, flying into the air behind the limo and into the front end of the buggy. David and Izmyroth were horrified as they watched Darkstar roll across the pavement like a rag doll and out of the traffic's way. Then she was gone in a flash of light. David kept following the limo. "Shoot the tires out, carefully." David ordered Izmyroth and he nodded and slipped his head into the Virtual Reality helmet and allowed his mind to meld with the turret's targeting computer. At the Phyre Knight HQ, Derrok locked on to Darkstar's comm signal and brought her back to Phyre Knight medical. "Darkstar is home, what is..." The signal dropped out as they entered the three block shield around the Imperal Court building.

Treasa made it to the driver's side door of the limo, unaware of the fate of Darkstar, and had just enough time to hit the brakes as she saw Kinks, pointing his Enforcer out the driver's side window with a death's head grin. With that all her weight was thrown to the front of the bike shifting the braking bike up on it's front wheel. The bike went into a front end wheelie, and Treasa leaned back with all her weight to get the bike back on the ground as the limo continued forward. She recovered and pulled out her enforcer and started back up on the limos driver side again. As she approached the front of the limo she looked ahead and briefly saw the stalling car cross the next intersection, and helplessly, watched Toad's point car get smashed by a well timed, speeding 18 wheeler that was crossing. It plowed his tiny sport's car into the cross street and he was gone. The limo accelerated through the wreckage. Her body went cold as she heard Toad's cry through her comm link and then silence. She came up on the window of the limo and opened fire.

Kink's had put the plexiglass window back up and grinned malevolently at her and he floored the accelerator. She let the limo get ahead of her and she tried to blow some holes in the rear window but it was not successful. All the precautions to keep the Senator safe were now keeping him in harms way. "Kinks, when I get my hands on you, so help me. If there is so much as one scratch in the Senator's armor, they won't be able to identify your ass from your face when I'm done with you." She said to him over the comm link. She heard his reply, just a laugh, deep in her mind.

She looked back at David and Izmyroth and flagged them forward. "Stop the limo, I don't care how. I'm gonna try and get inside." She said to them. She popped the accelerator to it's maximum, and roared past the limo as the buggy opened fire on the rear tires. The rubber on the tires got shredded and the back end of the limo started to slide. Kinks fought the several ton, rear wheel drive limo for control. Treasa was quickly in front of the limo, and then beyond. When she had enough ground she spun the bike in a 180 and headed back at the limo. She armed the small grenade launcher mounted to her bike with it's single round and waited till she was in range. She knew the outside was armored, except the grill. If she could hit the grill the engine would explode, then the fuel cut off would trigger and any fire would put it's self out. Meanwhile, the interior cabin has it's own circulating air, anti-fire sprinkler system, so the Senator should be fine till they get him out. In theory anyway.

In the split second she made that decision the moment was upon her, and in that heart beat, she fired. The grenade propelled itself directly into the limos grill and exploded. The front end shifted on the frame and the steering was instantly blown out. The engine exploded in a shower of flames and sparks, and the hood flew off the front, caught air, and flew back towards David and Izmyroth. They dodged the large debris in a split second of squealing rubber.

However there was nowhere for Treasa to go and she closed her eyes as she hit the bumper of the limo. The impact was bone-jarring, separating her from the bike, as they were both launched over the limo at full speed. She opened her eyes and looked down at the limo as she flew over. She could see down through the sun roof. The Senator was slumped over in the rear seat, but no flames, or smoke. "Get him out of that car." She said over the comm unit to David and Izmyroth. "No matter what." She finished just before she hit the ground. She curled into a ball as she hit the pavement full force. Her armor absorbed most of the contact with the pavement as it splintered and snapped, and her helmet was blown off with the impact from the road.

Everything was slow motion as she stopped tumbling, sat up and looked towards the limo. Then she noticed the bike had hit the pavement before her and was cartwheeling right at her. She rolled to the side as the sparks and flying metal hit her. She turned away, eyes wide open, as the bike flew by her face missing by only inches. She felt the heat of it's engine block slip by her, the forced flow of air blowing her loose hairs by her right check. She heard the chain on the drive whizzing next to her ear, and then the searing heat of the exhaust pipe. She never blinked, just sat perfectly still, as fear and adrenaline raced through her body holding her in place. All she heard was the rush of the air around her and the sound of her own heart beat. Then... the bike landed in front of her, fell to it's side and slid the rest of the way down the street before her. She exhaled and fell back to the pavement as the strength ran out of her. "We lost him, right after you blew the limo, the Iron Claw must have transported the limo out. Coming back for you." David said over the comm and Treasa just lay there, bleeding internally and let darkness slip in on the edges of her vision. She failed, and if she died, it would be a fitting end. If she lived, God help those responsible, for justice would be slow, full retribution would be painful, for she would command her team fueled by pure vengeance.


	13. Chapter 13: Caged Hawk

**Chapter 13: Caged Hawk**

The cheers of the crowd in the small room were enormous, and Janos stood on the boardroom table and hefted a large platinum goblet, encrusted with emeralds. "And so we have succeeded in our plan, victory will soon be ours. A toast to our new ally and most triumphant operative yet, Kinks, for binging us the leader..." Janos paused dramatically, "The figure head, nay, the FOUNDATION, of the Phyre Knight organization. THE SENATOR!! The Senator is our prisoner, and the enemy is weak, ready for the taking. Today, the individual, tomorrow the organization, next week...THE EMPIRE!!" He shouted fanatically and the room erupted in extremist cheers. "Let us go see the spoils of war. Shall we?" Janos asked, and he was met with provocative cheers that continued to feed his hunger for power and attention.

Black Lotus was at his side, goblet in hand, with the most malevolent smile she could muster as she glared at Damien. He skulked away at the back of the group, still unsuccessful at finding the traitor. He would have his day in the sun and on that day he would have Black Lotus. He would make Janos give her to him to do with as he wished. Yes, as a gift, for his successful service to Janos, and then the fun would begin. The blackness that ran through Damien's veins was like a disease and it spread to his face, and lips, as he locked eyes with Black Lotus and gave a menacing grin, with a nod of his goblet to her. She returned the gesture with just as much venom, and perhaps a little arrogance as well. Damien continued to grin darkly, knowing that her arrogance would be her undoing. He hated her, he wanted nothing more then to destroy her and her future. This excited him so. Rife with enthusiasm, he thought of all the glorious things he would do to her with his desire when the time came. Yes, and his day was coming soon.

They all traveled down to the auditorium and filtered into the stadium style balcony seating. The room was large and circular, with all white walls and ceilings, and white marble floors. In the center of the room was usually Janos's podium, but today his podium was off to the side. In the center of the room was their prisoner, the Senator. He was standing tall, his armor scratched and chipped. "So...Senator," Janos started with a sneer dripping with contempt. "Hows it feel to know I have beaten the Phyre Knights. That I have beaten you!" He shouted, only a few feet from the Senator. The cold, empty eyes of the Senator's helmet followed Janos around him, never moving his body, not daring to antagonize the invisible forcefield surrounding him. Slowly the Senator drew a deep breath, and lowered his icy glaze on Janos. Chills ran down Janos's spine as he realized the only thing that was saving his large ass from the caged killer before him was this forcefield he controlled.

"Janos, you have nothing but a figure head. The Phyre Knights will continue to dominate the Iron Claw, and eventually wipe you out completely." The Senator paused to see if his words were sinking in at all. So he decided to punctuate slowly. "That is of course if I don't get to you first." This threat would mean little from any normal man, especially one trapped behind a forcefield, but this was no normal man. This was the Senator, and his hidden face, cold eyes, and altered, inhuman voice echoed menacingly through every set of ears in the room. The room was filled with an icy anxiety and Janos pushed the chills away long enough to demonstrate his control by signaling his prison keeper. With a single button the keeper electrically shocked the Senator, in his tiny prison. The pain drove him to his knees, and Janos smiled. "You are in no position to threaten me, Phyre Knight." Janos whispered to the Senator as he sat, propped up on his knees, catching his breath. "We will see, Janos. We will see." he said with all the power he could muster, and it came out as a devitalized growl, but none of the conviction was missing from the Senator's voice, just the volume.


	14. Chapter 14: Gift or Curse?

**Chapter 14: Gift or Curse?**

Treasa Firestar awoke on a metal table, in a white, paper gown. She looked around her, the walls and floors were stainless steel, and the ceiling was square steel grid work, with bright fluorescent lighting mounted underneath. Her head was foggy, and next to her was a tray of blood laden instruments. She tried to focus, but she couldn't. She tried to sit up, and found herself restrained. She tried to cry out, but her throat was so dry she choked herself with the effort. She settled back on the steel table and decided to try and clear her disorganized thoughts. Then the door opened and in walked two men.

One wore a white robe and a set of keys, the other wore imperial armor, and had a gun trained on her. She leveled her gaze on the one in the white and waited, she could feel her throat was still in no condition to talk, so she waited. He came over and unlocked her restraints. She sat up and pulled her arms in front of her and rubbed her sore wrists, and pulled her legs up in front of her. She felt a brief flash of fear because no one was talking and she felt odd. Her body ran cold as sudden flashes of the last mission she was on returned to her. The one in white turned his head and looked at her, then turned and walked to the far side of the room. Treasa looked at the guard and slid to the edge of the table and he raised his gun and took aim. She quickly raised her hands in innocence, and the doctor came back and handed her a white jump suit. Then they both turned and left.

Treasa was regaining her mind's control while she slipped out of the paper gown and into the jumpsuit. As she slid the shirt on she took notice of the scar that now ran under her ribs. She remembered that she was injured after the last mission, maybe it was worse then she thought. The jumpsuit had the Phyre Knight insignia on the left breast and said "Phyre Knight Medical" and she relaxed a little. Then the door opened again and in walked Bill Stonewall. "Treasa, good to see you up and moving again, we thought we were going to lose you. How are you feeling?" He asked, and she shrugged, responding in a hoarse whisper. "Something isn't right, what happened?" She said running a weak hand over her new scars. Bill looked down slightly and then returned his gaze to her eyes. "If your up to it we will move to my office and talk?" He asked and she nodded. She tried to get up, but still couldn't quite stand on her own. Bill reached out to steady her, and thought about how difficult the next hour would be for her to deal with. Well he did it once with the Senator, he could do it again for Treasa.

She sat down in his office and he got her some water. She sipped tentatively as the water eased the tension in her throat. She took in the stark office with it's military manuals, strategy guides, and history books on the Empire. The desk was a black onyx, and Bill sat behind his clean desk and looked thoughtfully at Treasa. She took in his well angled, clean shaven face, not sharp, but defined, his salt and pepper gray hair, neatly cut, just about an inch off his scalp. He was tall with an average weight and all well toned muscle. He was attractive in a rough kind of way. His hard hazel eyes spoke volumes with a single word from his thin lips. However she knew by the look in his eyes that his news was going to be bad. Whatever it was, she could take it, or at least she was pretty sure she could take it.

"Treasa, you died over five days ago. The mission for the Senator was a failure due to a mole. We lost half your team. You, Darkstar, and Toad were killed and Kinks defected to the Iron Claw." He was speaking slowly to let things sink in. She was looking intently at Bill, trying to figure out why she was sitting in his office, drinking water, if she was dead. The dead don't tend to sit up very well, or sip water for that matter. "You have been rebuilt from the inside out. You still retain your mind and your soul but much of your internal organs have been replaced. The next step with this reconstruction process is to wipe out your mind of the traumatic incident that caused death, I canceled this procedure for you and Darkstar. Toad was wiped completely clean, much of his physical brain was damaged in the crash. He is currently being reprogrammed, he'll be back to normal soon, if he survives his physical trauma. Darkstar will not be told about the enhancements made to put her legs back together again, it would further damage her image of herself. You however are not only aware of your rebuilding, but have your memories. If we wiped out your mind all your training and the memories that make you who you are would be gone. We could easily reprogram fighting techniques but the edge that you have would be lost forever." Treasa was completely calm about everything. She still has a chance to make things right, she could care less whether her pancreas was intact, she didn't know what it was for anyway.

Now was the time to drop the bomb on Treasa. Bill felt guilty for what he was about to do to her, she had suffered far to much for her age. The Phyre Knights needed the Senator back and this would be the only way to do it. He turned the lights down and hit a button sitting on his desk. A hologram popped up in the center of his desk. Treasa's heart, at least what she thought was her heart, skipped a beat. Her body went cold and she became lightheaded. Before her was a ghostly holophoto of Alexander Justyn Darkstrom, her Alex. Her eyes were wide and she couldn't breath. "Alex..." she whispered as her eyes filled with tears she hadn't shed for many years. Bill's heart went out to her because she was about to become the saviour of the Phyre Knight party, and of A.J. Darkstrom. "Treasa, this is the Senator." Bill said and Treasa slipped out of her chair, her body numb with shock. He switched the picture to one with his armor, and no helmet. His deep blue eyes were striking and his stance was so familiar. She could have kicked herself for all the times her body was telling her something was up with this mystery man and she ignored it. She had him back but didn't know it, and now she lost him again.

Anger and vengeance started it's way through her blood and she rose up from the floor on sheer will power alone. Her eyes started to glow as her anger built to boiling. This was what Bill was counting on. "Treasa, we need you to get him back. But please bear in mind, he is not the A.J. you remember, we locked away all his memories a long time ago. He only knows you as Treasa Firestar the trained killer, not the lost lover. He has little flashes where he remembers things, but they are so broken he dismisses them. He thinks your some fantasy in the back of his lonely mind, so he loads himself down with work so he doesn't think about it."

Treasa understood, it may not have been fair, but she understood. She was happy to know he was alive and well, and this whole time they were always fighting for the same cause at the same time. She always felt connected to him, even though she didn't know how. He knew the work she had done for his cause, and she hoped he was proud. Tears edged on breaking as her glassy eyes moved from the holophoto to William Stonewall. She could see through the wardog like glass, his guilt at playing this card was quite obvious to her. So she played back. "You know I'll tear this city down to retrieve the Senator, with out playing the A.J. card, but now that you've played it, your gonna owe me." She paused as she blinked the tears back into her eyes, no more would fall this day. She felt the cold, calculating killer creep back into her soul. She straightened her back in her chair, picked her head up slowly, and turned her frigid gaze on Bill and almost felt him shudder. "Sir, your toying with the emotions that make me who I am. You will give me 10 minutes with my A.J. after I rescue him to have my closure. A.J., not the Senator, with his memories intact. Then I turn my back and continue to serve the Phyre Knights until the empire is free. When the Empire is free, the Senator gets his memories back to do as he pleases. It is part of freedom, the right to remember. These are things I ask of you, of the Phyre Knights. I have died for you once already, and I will die as many times as necessary to rescue A.J., the least you could do is let me say goodbye to him."

Bill knew this was going to happen also. Her conviction to her new life was what surprised him. Most people rebuilt were bitter at being freaks, she didn't even weigh that into account. She only wanted to say goodbye, and he'd be able to arrange this without trying. "Treasa, you'll have all the time you need, from the time A.J. is in your custody. We are almost positive that they are slowly dismantling his mind, digging at his secrets. Our mole says that they've opened his mind locks and they are trying to torture him for information now that he has access to his emotions. They hope he is weak and will beak under interrogation." Bill took a sip of water and stared at A.J. 's holophoto and shook his head. "They don't know A.J. very well. Unleashing his memories and emotions is probably the worst thing they could have done. It was the only thing keeping his Psionics in check." He was still staring into space as he spoke.

However he had caught Treasa's interest. "Sir?" She questioned and leveled her stare on William Stonewall, and he snapped his attention back to reality. "Treasa, all of our rebuilts suffer a side effect of the process. We expand the useage of the mind to compensate for all the new cybernetics. This process also leads to the appearance of Psionics in all most all of the subjects. However, if we lock away the memories and emotions, it's like the safety on a weapon, it can't be fired. A.J. has developed telekinesis, he can move and manipulate things with his mind. You have developed pyronics, manipulation of fire. That's why you were in the room, alone, with nothing near you. You kept lighting things on fire while you were unconscious." Treasa laughed shortly, it was truly dark laugh, one that brought a surge of chills racing down William's spine. This was a truly dangerous person, and he was glad she was on his side.

"Let's get moving, if they even bruise him, I'll hang each one by their own skin, after I remove it from their still breathing bodies." Her eyes flashed gold and faded. She felt power brimming inside her and knew that this was going to be good. "I will bring A.J. back, and I will bring death to the Iron Claw. By this time next week the Empire will belong to the Phyre Knights for the rebuilding. This I promise you." Bill smiled at her, that was exactly what he was hoping for. As Treasa rose from her chair, like so much predator waiting to strike, Bill stood with her and repressed another shudder.

"Treasa... just make sure there is some Empire left to rebuild." He said to her with the smallest hint of a smile, and she spun on her heel and left.


	15. Chapter 15: Senator Unleashed

**Chapter 15: Senator Unleashed**

"Why are we still no closer to getting answers from him?" Janos asked, his heels firmly on the desk, arms behind his large, bald head. He had his gaze leveled on his interrogation team, a collection of timid, no names trying to look fearless despite their uncontrollable cold sweats. "You have been torturing the prisoner for hours and still no answers. What is the hold up?" Janos asked and they all looked at each other for answers that didn't exist. Janos started to take his heels off the table and one of the torturers was shoved up to Janos' desk. Janos relaxed and left his feet up.

The interrogator started to shake violently as he tried to speak, his voice trembling as badly as the rest of him. "Well...Sir, um...He, the Senator I mean, he is... very strong. He just seems to shut everything out. We've undone most of his mind locks, and...um...we think that once his emotions run free we'll get the answers we seek...Sir." As soon as Janos nodded the young interrogator leapt back into the group.

Janos smiled, stood up slowly and looked at the group with a small grin. "That was very good, keep working on it. Who's in charge of this group?" Janos asked, and an older man stepped forward. "Sir, that would be me, and thank you for..." BANG. Janos stopped him short with a swift bullet to the center of his forehead. The man instantly fell lifeless to the floor, his life's blood spreading across the tile.

Janos looked up at the trembling men and pointed the gun at the younger man that gave the report. "Your in charge now, get me some answers..." and the team quickly filed out of the room. "And somebody clean this shit up!" Janos bellowed out the open door, brandishing his gun at the dead body on his floor.

The Senator was on his knees, chained to the floor, arms chained over his head, hanging from the ceiling. His chest armor and helmet had been removed to facilitate the torture process. Everything was wet from when they fire hosed him. His chest ached from when the shocked him on his bare, wet flesh. His hands were numb from being above his head for hours, and his body and mind felt detached from him. He figured it was part of the torture, or maybe his body's response to being tortured.

They had probes stuck in his skull, and he had no idea why. He knew he was in no danger of breaking, his secrets would die with him if need be, but that wasn't the case. No, he would be rescued. She would rescue him. He stopped in mid-thought. Why did Treasa Firestar pop into his head. The Phyre Knights would rescue him...but they would send her. There were flashes in his mind, images, feelings, sights and smells. Only flashes and then gone. They were messing with his brain, maybe they could give him his memory back. Maybe they were trying to take the memory he had left. He shook his head and tried to gain control of his thoughts, but he was no longer in control of his mind. There was gunshots, an old tree, children playing, a star sapphire, Bill Stonewall, and a girl with sienna hair and burning hazel eyes. The memories came faster and faster until he was overtaken by a white flash, like someone hit him in the face with a old wood 2x4. Suddenly, his head snapped back with a gut wrenching wail, and it all became clear, he could remember everything and felt tears well up inside, as well as anger. The air around the Senator started to crackle with power and his chains simply fell away. This was only the beginning.

"The last mind lock has been removed, the subject seems to be responding emotionally to what memories he is now seeing in his mind. Let's move now while he is coping with his own memories." The young interrogator decided. He and his crew made their way downstairs and were about to enter the torture chamber when the door blew inward at them. The steel door caught one of the men dead square. His body crushed under the impact, and was dead before he and the door came to rest on the base of the stairwell. The other three had leapt to the sides of the hall before getting smashed. "What the hell did that? Did he do that?" The one guy asked, starting to panic, eyes darting from the chamber to the guys he was with to the door crushing his dead partner. "How did he do that?!" He asked franticly and the young interrogator snapped at him.

"Pull yourself together Stu. He's chained up in there. Be more worried about Janos then the Senator. Now get in there." And Stu moved forward, shaking at the unknown. As he stuck his head in the door, a table flew in his direction. The Senator stood in the center of the room, no longer chained. "He's not tied down Frank. What are we supposed to do?" Frank, the newly appointed head interrogator looked at his panicking companion Stu, and his quiet companion, Jerry, and shook his head.

"Move." Frank said and the others moved as he walked into the room, head held high. The Senator stood regally, staring right through Frank with icy blue eyes. Frank fought the urge to look away, and continued to stare at the Senator. "You may not be chained, but you are still in the force field, aren't you?" Frank asked and the Senator continued his icy stare. Frank inhaled deeply and waited a moment before he smiled. It was a dark, conceited smile. He walked up to the Senator and gently ran his finger across the shield. Tiny blue sparks flew on the air like rouge magic from his fat fingers.

"So you are. Well that's good enough for me." Frank said, and felt some of the tension ease out of his shoulders. He felt a sudden wave of power come over him as he locked gazes with the Senator, like a poacher looking at his prized, caged lion. Dangerous and yet not even close. That was Frank's last thought before he felt a tingle at the front of his skull and the warm trickle of his own blood slipping from his nose. He reached up as much in surprise and confusion as in instinct to wipe the blood from his face.

He looked from his bloodied hand to his caged lion. He felt fear boiling up from inside himself as blood welled up in his eyes and ran down his face like crimson tears. His body started to tremble out of control as every muscle in his body convulsed. He opened his mouth to scream, but there was no sound to be heard. His last sight was the Senator, with blazing hatred in his inhuman, glowing blue eyes, and the sound of his own spine, crushing under the pressure from the convulsing muscles in his neck. The final snap severed his spinal cord and his body dropped in an instant to the floor, devoid of life and leaving behind an enlarging pool of crimson surrounding Frank's body. The Senator didn't even flinch, he just stood there, psionic energy crackling wildly on the air around him. Lost in his own newly found mind.

He knew Darkfall would find him, he knew she would rescue him, and he knew how it would kill her to see him like this. He knew the path of vengeance she was carving in the world to find him now, and how many people she would destroy after she found him tortured and beaten. She would tear the Empire apart to avenge the past, present and right the future. Now he remembered who she was, and knew who she had become, for and because of him. He knew how he was lost, he remembered everything, and it changed nothing of who he was, who he'd become or the duty he had to the Phyre Knights, and to the Empire. He also knew she'd feel the same way. She would avenge Alexander Justyn, she'd loyally serve the Senator and the Phyre Knights, and she'd help them clean up the Empire. They had both become duty first. She was Treasa Firestar, and she was a remarkable force to be reckoned with, as the entire Empire was about to find find out. He felt the power within him recede into the depths of his mind, and suddenly he was just a man again.


	16. Chapter 16: Empty Minds

**Chapter 16: Empty Minds**

William told Treasa to take the night off and recuperate. Physically she was drained, mentally she was overloading. She sat on the sofa in her moderately sized apartment and watched mindlessly as she caused a tiny flames to dance in the palm of her hand. As fabulous a talent as this gift was, she decided not to use it in public unless absolutely necessary.

She closed her eyes and her only thoughts were for A.J. His beautiful eyes, his strong hands, his ability to make her laugh. She felt in a way like some of her loss had been lifted, but the bitterness at two stolen lives still weighed more then enough on her soul. She felt her mind wander. She was trying not to indulge in thoughts of A.J., because she knew they were unwarranted, and unattainable, duty first always the excuse. She could not help but remembering. His strong hands on her soft skin, his warm breath on the nape of her neck. The sweet wildfire at his deep kiss, and the rising passion as she ran her hands over his bare chest. With a quick, deep breath she cleared her mind of lost passion never realized and decided to head down to the bar for a drink.

Tonight at the Golden Phoenix there was a live band, and Treasa took a second level table near the dance floor and band, even though she had no intention of dancing. She ordered a mudslide on the rocks from the waitress. She was grateful for the distraction the band provided from her swirling mind. She took a long sip of her drink, closed her eyes, and cleared her mind of everything but the music.

Startled, she was roused to reality by a soft touch on her shoulder. She turned her head to see David, drink in hand. She smiled softly at him and the look of happiness and relief on his face. Behind him stood Izmyroth and his glass of water, and acknowledged her with a slight smile and a nod of his head. However the relief in his eyes was just as evident as that seen in David's eyes. "Can we join you?" David asked softly and Treasa realized that she couldn't find her voice at all and managed a head nod and so they took seats opposite her. They looked tired, and she knew they wouldn't sleep till the team was whole again. There was a tight silence at the table and Treasa looked at both David and Izmyroth, realizing they were staring.

"What's on your mind guys?" Treasa asked, knowing it was her.

"T, We saw you at evac, there wasn't much of you that was intact...especially inside. Yet, here you sit without so much as a scar. You are Treasa, aren't you?" David asked, his eyes pleading for an honest answer. Treasa felt for him. In an age of modern medical miracles, clones, parasitic relocating of the mind, and android bodies with human brains are common place, one could never be too sure. She lifted her cotton shirt up to show off the large scar that ran under her rib line. David looked away.

"How much of me is left behind that scar is questionable. They said they tried to clone my organs, but the new organs wouldn't take, so as far as I know a lot of what's left is artificial. I have servos in my knees, and..." she stopped at the pyro-kenetics, no one needed to know but her. "Well, truth be told, I needed new knees anyway." she finished with a smile and the guys smiled back. "What about Darkstar?" David asked and there was a slight drop in Izmyroth's head. Feelings that shouldn't be felt, he had grown attached to Darkstar, and again Treasa felt her heart going out to her other teammate. "She's was a little worse for wear, but she's also fine, she'll be out soon, maybe we can get back to see her, I believe she's in physical therapy."

The tension slid from Izmyroth's shoulders. "Darkfall, 10 minutes, full gear, arena transport." Echoed through all 3 heads at once. Chairs pushed back, and drinks were left unfinished, there would be time later.


	17. Chapter 17: Avatar of Flame

**Chapter 17: Avatar of Flame**

Janos stood in his control center, fat palm open on the intercom button. "I want you to finish off Darkfall, there's only 3 and we have an unending supply of cannon fodder to throw in that ring at them. They are good, we are better, 5,000 credits to the one that brings me Treasa Firestar's head. IRON CLAW!!" He shouted and he looked down at the unending platoons of men, armed to the teeth, waiting for their 6 man team's turn to take on the great Phyre Knight elite, team Darkfall.

It took a little less then 7 and a half minutes for Darkfall to get to their rooms, thrown on their armor and meet back at the transports. David jogged through the door, "Bloodtap" and "Night Gypsy" in one hand, helmet in the other, looking at the fully suited Treasa and Izmyroth and exhaled in a huff. "Ok, so you guys are better at this then me, I always was the last guy into class, dropping my books the whole way." They smirked and David nodded, "So are we gonna do this thing?" he asked and Bill Stonewall walked in the room.

"Oh, I hope your gonna do this thing. We're in up to our asses in alligator's, and your the only way out. Janos knew we were down, so he went to the arena master and demanded a flag match, and he demanded, in the sake of "honor" it be Darkfall. He's got an unending supply of soldiers to throw in the ring with you. He's got number's, you've got experience, let's hope that's enough. Get his three flags, and bring them back to the base without ours getting yoinked. Easy? Good. Let's pound Janos and the Iron Claw, he needs to know that the Senator is just a figure head and we can whoop him with or without. Move out." With that Darkfall was on the transport pad with 30 seconds to spare.

There was no freeze time, no pause, just drop and slop. Treasa linked in with the computer and was instantly aware of the layout, the incoming and the numbers. She looked at Izmyroth and shook her head. "Unleash the beast. I'll cover from the roof, Izmyroth run David's body guard, David get the flag and get back. Each one has to come back before the next gets picked up. Got it?" She asked and they both nodded. "No Mercy...this one is for our team...let's take as many as we can with us." With that Treasa took off for the transport pad that would shoot her to the roof. Topside she found her sniper rifle and all the rounds she could handle. She didn't both laying down, she loaded and immediately scoped the incoming. Her normal calm was brushed aside and she made room for the rage in her veins.

"This is for taking AJ again you bastard." And she opened up on the young Janos zealots that were charging her fortress. Men started to fall like drops from a hurricane, fast and hard. Her rage had not even come close to a peak yet and it was endlessly feeding this new power in her like a black hole. She never saw faces in her scope, just bullseyes on foreheads.

If David didn't know how many were on their side he may have thought nothing of the two man cover team. However it wasn't two men, there was one woman, who didn't like to lose, and one animal. Iron Claw dropped like flies as he charged their fortress. No one could even get withing firing distance of him. He looked back at Izmyroth and something in his eyes changed, had become decidedly animal, predatory. David was glad they were both on his side, or was it him being smart enough to blend in to their's. He wasn't sure, so he stopped thinking about it. They covered the two hundred yards to the other tower easy, then the masses were upon him. With his arm extended, and "Bloodtap" leading, he picked off the incoming at an astounding rate. Surprised with himself, he let a smile creep on to his face, hidden beneath his full metal helm, as adrenaline coursed through his body. he could feel Izmyroth behind him, tearing the masses limb from limb, and as much as he wanted to glance over his shoulder, he dared not take his eyes off the incoming forces.

They were inside the Iron Claw tower and Treasa was just keeping reinforcements at bay, but the two Phyre Knight warriors were on their own. She felt different, yet the same. She knew there was something powerful below the surface, but her training kept it down, drowning the power in her subconscious, like a victim in a bathtub murder. It made her feel good to know that she had not changed greatly, yet that power itched at her, tugged and made sure she could never allow her guard to be down.

Her barrel was red hot as she spent clip after clip of ammo. The living Janos zealots had to climb over their own dead to get to the doorway of their tower, and she kept killing each one. Trying to fill the burn of failure, trying to make up for AJ's kidnapping. Just the thought of AJ being stolen from her again was too much for her to deal with at the moment, and then the moment was gone and she didn't even realize it till it was too late. A new rage fanned her determination, and the shots came faster, and never lost their accuracy. Then David and Izmyroth appeared with the flag strapped to David's backpack. She clipped guys to the left and right like a human submachine gun. Then it happened. David took a hit, she watched in horror as the bullet exploded through his armor chest plate. Armor piercing, explosive rounds were all that could make a hole that large in the armor. From 150 yards it looked like it went through his lower right lung. He fell hard, she looked, but there was no one within range. Then she looked up at their tower, and locked gazes with their sniper.

Damien winked at her, blew her a kiss and she shook her head. As she watched him through her scope, her rage at the breaking point. She let go of her guard. Rage boiled her blood and she felt the power seep from the base of her skull down her spine and flooded out to her limbs like wildfire. The wrath released, Damien's end was Treasa's beginning.

Damien's ego had gotten the best of him and he stayed too long. He could not resist gloating over that woman. She should be dead. If that fool Kink's had done his job. But he didn't and that opened the door for Damien. Damien would bring Janos Treasa's head, he'd rape and exploit Black Lotus for his reward and life would be good. Damien smiled. He spun on his heel, formulating the next attack, but never made it that far. Just as he set foot on the transport pad, Treasa blew his head off his shoulders. Giblets spattered the balcony, and Damien's body fell through the transport and was deposited downstairs in the Iron Claw tower. The whole episode took less then 30 seconds, and she was already back covering the boys.

David's chest burned, but he was in shock to deep to feel the pain. He didn't even pick his head up to look at the damage. He already knew he was on borrowed time. Through his reeceding vision he could make out Izmyroth, out manned, tearing peoples limbs apart from their torsos and reveling in the bloodshed. Numbers eventually prevailed, and they slowly brought Izmyroth down. David was numbly aware that the hail of cover fire had stopped. Had they gotten Treasa too? Darkness was almost total when he heard this cry, an anguished wail of death, and it gave him a chill, or perhaps it was just death on his shoulder giving him a chill. The ground shuddered, and then the blackness consumed him, and he surrendered, giving in to defeat, and death.

Treasa watched impotently as both her team members went down, and the rifle, over heated and beaten down, got jammed. She threw the rifle at the deck in a fit of uncontrolled rage, and cried out in an unbridled hate that echoed across the arena. That little bit of training keeping her in line snapped, and gave way to the unbridled, hate-fueled power inside. Her own life not even a thought, she threw herself from the seven story tower in a waterless swan dive. She drew the attention of every soldier on the ground. She landed right foot first, driving her to her right knee, right palm and left foot. The impact left a crater and as soon as she landed, she was up and sprinting to the other tower. She looted another automag off one of many dead bodies as she ran by, un-holstering her own and opening fire. She swept the crowd from her boys. Izmyroth was fine other then the occasional cut. "Grab David!" She shouted, and spoke to her comm insert. "Evac!! Evac now!!" and the response was static, they were being jammed, this was rigged to be a slaughter and she made a note to rip William Stonewall a new asshole when, and if, she got back. "We're on our own. Get David back to the tower."

Izmyroth didn't give the orders a second thought. He picked up David's large frame like it was nothing, threw the weight on his shoulder and took off. Treasa laid down cover fire as she retreated backward. When her borrowed automag was empty she tossed it away, as her own weapon clicked empty. She slipped it in it's holster, and swept down with one hand to pick up the fallen Iron Claw flag, and spun to face her attackers, flag laden staff in hand and proceeded to beat her aggressors with sped and authority. Spin, parry, lunge, swipe. One hand spin, two hand strike, round house kick, leg sweep, and lunge. She took down twelve men in moments, clearing the surrounding area. She stood, staff running vertically behind her back, her free hand counter balancing in front of her. Exhale. Her pulse was racing and she smiled within her helmet. The smell of blood, the thrill of the hunt, she felt alive. Then she spotted the new wave. Time to run. She took off for the Phyre Knight tower, closing the yards in record time.

She came in the tower, and slipped the Iron Claw flag in the trophy holder stand. She turned to see Izmyroth with David laid out in the corner. She moved quickly to the Medkit on the wall and smashed the glass door with a swift elbow. She snatched the contents out and was instantly kneeling at David's side. She tore her gloves off as she watched David, bleeding out through severed arteries in his chest, unconscious, and cold. He still had a pulse, however weak it seemed, and that was something. "David? David, sweetie, can you hear me?" She was speaking to him, and fear washed over her. There was no response, and a lot of blood, everywhere. Everywhere but where it should have been, which was inside David's body. She brushed a stray strand of blond hair from his face, clammy skin shattering her heart. In a moment her emotions would get the better of her. She felt the rage boiling up within her.

"Izmyroth, get in, get the second flag and come back. Mame, destroy, kill, I don't care, I want that second flag, the third is on me. Go." She growled, and Izmyroth took off out the door. They both knew, it wasn't about winning, but winning was the only way to get David out in time, so win they would, 2 against hundreds. She looked back at David's still features, shaking her head and then got to work. She used the lazerblade to remove the armor, sprayed the wound down with hydroflesh, cleansing the wound, and stimulating healing. Then she went in with the scoped tractor scalpel and removed any fragments of bullet in his body. Another spray of hydroflesh and she applied "the zipper". The zipper is a self micro-stitching unit. Place it on the wound and push the go button. The unit senses the wound and stitches accordingly. Her only hope after the several minutes of field surgery was that he had enough blood left to stay alive till they were done.

Izmyroth, up until right now, had kept his animal under tight wrap. Since his arrest at the hands of the Empire, for nothing more then avenging his lupine family, he had been under tight watch. He would maul people during his prison time, just so he could get solitary. Solitary for Izmyroth was like time in the workout yard for other inmates. It was in solitary he learned to control the beast, which allowed him to play his prey, and ultimately make him a better predator. Now was not the time for restrictions.

He ran the field of battle almost on all fours, he covered ground faster then most humans could think. One minute he was at the tower, the next he was upon the men in front of tower Iron Claw. He tore them limb from limb. He snapped necks, used his uncut finger nails to gouge out eyes and throats. When the next wave came they froze in their tracks. Amidst the pile of bodies, Izmyroth sat on his human haunches, face buried in the hemorrhaged abdomen of some unfortunate Iron Claw zealot. He smelled fresh fear and looked up, his eyes red, and dilated. In the moment that they saw the terror, he was on them too. His pulse raced as the blood of the men bathed every inch of him. The smell of copper, the warm slickness of blood on his skin. He wanted to stay at this soulless buffet and feed his long starved animal side, but his new pack needed him. He leapt off the newest pile of bodies and raced inside. He tore the flag from the holder so hard he broke off the base of the pole in it's holder.

He raced back outside, and towards tower Phyre Knight and noticed the playing field was being slowly cleared by the arena master, teleporting the bodies of the lost into oblivion. His way back to the tower was uninterrupted as the new targets filled in for their deaths. Upon arriving at the tower he looked down at David and Treasa and shook his head. He could feel the losing battle in the air of the tower. He slammed the flag down in the holder. "Go, I will keep him alive." He said, all trace of the animal in him gone, save for the amount of blood on his body, running from his lips. Treasa looked up at him with something more then sadness in her eyes. Was it pain, fear maybe, or perhaps muted rage, the kind that boils up eventually and consumes all, like wildfire. She stood and the air around her wavered slightly and she walked to the front door. Izmyroth watched her walk out on the field of battle and for the first time, in a long time, he was afraid. Not for himself, but for everyone about to encounter the avatar of flame out on that field.

Treasa stalked out towards the opposing tower with long, measured strides. Each step caused the air around her to fluctuate, and the earth beneath her feet to scorch. She allowed the anger to bubble up and run under the surface and then made it wait. Men lined up before her and waited like a firing line. She summoned up a small flame in her palm, dancing lightly, tickling her flesh and she smiled. She removed her helmet with her other hand and dropped it to the smoking earth. She wanted them to see her, her eyes, her wrath. She would never again lose another from her life to the game. The men took up firing positions and she kept her pace. They fired upon her. Her augmented ears heard the click of so many triggers, and turned sideways as the beams blew past every side, not one came close.

She lowered her gaze on the line of men and her eyes blazed into golden life and she smiled grimly. "My turn." Her voice echoed in every one of their skulls, and fear consumed them, but by then it was already too late. The fire in her palm grew to a softball sized fireball, and she wound back and pitched hard, rocketing the fireball across the field of battle. It hit with the force of an atomic bomb. Bodies burned and parts flew on the shock wave. With a swipe of her hand she caused armor to melt into flesh, blood to boil, and eyeballs explode out of sockets in a flash of steam and vapor. The screams were terrifying. The screams fed her hate, and she liked it. She walked past the men writhing on the ground, locking eyes with them and burning them from the inside out. Her own rule about letting no one suffer was long since forgotten. Let those worthless souls suffer, and the future ones will suffer as well. Her wrath will repay the debt owed to Darkstar, Toad, AJ, and now David. There will be no mercy for the Iron Claw.

She walked unopposed into the tower, grabbed the flag and walked up to the camera in the corner. "I'm coming for you Janos." Her glare sent chills down Janos's spine and he knew what it was to be afraid. She was psychotic and seemed to have developed strange powers since her near death experience at the hands of Kinks and his limo. Her eyes suddenly blazed like golden flames and he could see the camera casing melt into the screen's view, then with a snap and yank she tore the camera away from it's mounting, and the screen dissolved into snow.

Janos looked in the hanger and knew he had lost. He had 6 men left out of the hundreds that Darkfall slaughtered today. He threw a grenade into the bay and closed the blast doors. He figured he'd save them the humiliation of being slaughtered at the hands of a freak, an animal and a farmer. Well, at least he got one member of Darkfall. It was a start.


	18. Chapter 18: Plots, Twists, and Intrigues

**Chapter 18: Plots, Twists and Intrigues**

Treasa Firestar had retrieved the flag, returned to the base, and the team was beamed to the Medical Lab. David was swooped off to surgery and stabilized. Izmyroth and Treasa chose to keep their cuts and bruises this time. They waited for David to come out of surgery. Down the hall they found Darkstar, still learning how to walk again. Izmyroth sat with her, as he had been doing for several nights since the limo "incident" as the higher ups were calling it.

Toad was fighting a losing battle. There was only so much they could replace. Typically they could place the brain in either an android body, or a cloned body, but there wasn't enough left of Toad's brain to move. So they were making him comfortable, while he faded away in his coma. Treasa left Izmyroth with Darkstar and went to see Toad. She didn't know him well, but the fact that his partner turned angered her. His own artificial brother took his life and left him a vegetable. She would avenge him too. She whispered this to him, feeling on some level that he knew her intentions and was relieved to know that Kinks would get his. She felt the life fading from him. She held his hand and told him of her plans to avenge him, and left. Knowing full well it would be the last time she saw him. "I will avenge you, of this I swear." She said with one last look and decided to pay a visit to William Stonewall and get some answers.

The door was thrown off it's hinges, splintering wood bouncing off the tile floor. She grabbed her victim by the collar of his military button down, and drug him across the onyx desk. David, Izmyroth, and Darkstar stood in the doorway to William Stonewall's office and let Treasa have her way with the ex-military leader. Bill Stonewall yelped as he fell to the floor on the guest side of the desk as Treasa drug him across the floor, spun around and knelt on his chest, never once releasing his collar. "You set us up, you bastard!" She snarled and spat in his face and he knew enough to keep his mouth shut, lest she melt him from the inside out. "You knew it and sent us in anyway, without warning. Where is AJ?!" She used his collar to slam his skull into the tile floor twice.

He shook his head side to side violently. "I don't know!" He shouted in fear. For all his military training, he was genuinely afraid of her new found, uncontrollable wrath. David came up and placed a calming hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him. She then let go of Stonewall's collar and got up off his chest. He took a deep breath through bruised ribs and propped himself up on one elbow. "Get up...or I let her have you again." David said in an even tone keeping his weariness well concealed for now, and Stonewall scrambled to his feet. "We want the whole story, or you don't walk ever again." David said to Stonewall while escorting him back around his desk and into his chair.

"Alright people, we have an inhuman freak, a flesh eating animal, a killer farmer, and a flaming psycho. We lost Damien...but we have Kinks and the Black Lotus, and two out of three ain't bad." Janos smiled at his humor, the rest of the room was silent.

Black Lotus was not upset in the least at the loss of Damien. He was a risk to the group and now he was a closed issue. She was the one that suggested using Damien to lead the assault on Darkfall, knowing full well his cockiness would get him killed. Then she fed Damien's ego about how great he was and how great his victory would be. Damien ate it up, believing every tainted word.

That was the difference between Black Lotus and Damien. She hated Treasa Firestar with every fiber of her being, but she knew better then to underestimate Firestar. Firestar was the best, to underestimate her was fatal. Black Lotus knew it, and that was why Lotus hated her, because Lotus knew that Firestar was the best and that she, Black Lotus should be the best. And all that stood in her way was this overly compassionate white woman. That was Firestar's weakness, her compassion and loyalty to her team. She smiled because the showdown was coming and Black Lotus would use her overwhelming intellect to out maneuver Treasa Firestar, kill her and her freak-show team, and take her place as the greatest warrior in the Empire.

As it should always have been. She came out of her reverie to listen to Janos and his addle-brained scheming, and to pretend that she cared about this cracker and his idiot's quest for imperial domination.

Stonewall explained everything that he knew to Darkfall. The Senator's identity, how Treasa fits into all this and how each member fits into the grand plan and how everything in the Empire comes down to who wins the upcoming Imperial Race. If the Senator wins, power stays balanced, if not it goes to the Iron Claw, or worse yet the Independent party, the Godlings. Usually power was shared with the two parties, but the assassination of a key Phyre Knight member would leave the balance of the Imperial Senate up for grabs. It would also make the Phyre Knights an inept party, powerless against the corruption and probably to be absorbed by the other lesser parties.

All of those options were unacceptable. The call to the Senate was staged by Janos to get the Senator, and the Arena challenge was called by Janos to destroy what was left of Darkfall. With those anchors out of the way, the Phyre Knights would be weak and up for grabs. Treasa Firestar, David Stormblade, Izmyroth and Darkstar made a decision and informed William Stonewall of the way things were going to be.

"If you want the Senator back, you will turn this operation over to me, to be run my way. We are not going to tell you anything, one, because we have a leak and two, the Knights need to maintain plausible deniability. There is no debate. Yes or no William?" Treasa asked and while Stonewall wanted to keep a leash on Darkfall, especially after the last episode in the arena, it looked as thogh the decision had been taken from his hands. Word had already spread of the bizarre team that destroyed hundreds of Iron Claw warriors. William Stonewall was left with little choice, she was right. There was a leak and he needed to protect the Knight's. Being able to deny any mistakes was the best way. He agreed to her terms.


	19. Chapter 19: The Calm Before the Storm

**Chapter 19: The Calm Before the Storm**

Darkfall made their way to the Phoenix lounge to discuss their plans. In a booth with her back to the wall, watching the other Phyre Knight members come and go Treasa sipped at her amaretto on the rocks. She was still, but her mind was racing. "We need to get info first..." she was thinking out loud. David smiled from behind his beer, eyes glittering in the low light. His stunning blue eyes were not lost on Treasa.

"Shakedown." he said and she couldn't help but smile at his innocence. He smiled in return and she shook her head in agreement.

"Shakedown." She repeated.

Darkstar nodded darkly. She was on her 5th drink without so much as a hint of a buzz. Her augmented body was processing the alcohol into stored sugar for quick burn energy. Like nitro for a car, she could call on her reserve to go a little faster, or stay up a little longer, even go without food for twice the time as other people. And she was prepping for the battles ahead.

Izmyroth was swishing his whiskey around the glass, thinking about the satisfaction he felt with this group. They were efficient, strong and powerful. Yet they looked out for their own. Izmyroth looked into Treasa's eyes and saw a glimmer of her power. Only a minute fraction. He would speak to her of self control later on, lest her power corrupt her.

They hashed out the details of their next move. They were going to slip into a few frequented Iron Claw public bars and shake down some guys and get their ids. They would have Derok reprogram the ids to work with the members of Darkfall. Then they would start shaking down the members of the Iron Claw in their own base. They would eventually get to the level of authority they needed to shut down the Iron Claw, and find the Senator.

Treasa had noticed that Izmyroth and Darkstar had been spending more time together. Darkstar had been cleared to go back to the fight, and she still had no idea that her legs had been rebuilt, only that HER legs were crushed, repaired and she needed to learn to walk again. Some secrets were better left alone. Izmyroth knew about her legs, but he also knew not to tell her. Izmyroth looked like he was contemplating the mysteries of life when Darkstar stood up. He looked up at her and she gave a smirk. "Dance?" was all she asked and Izmyroth flashed a brief look of fear, only a moment and then stood up and put his hand out. She put her pale hand in his and they walked to the dance floor.

Treasa smiled at them. She should forbid them from getting attached to each other, it could only end in disaster, but if people with nothing to live for found something, who was she to take it from them. "The get on rather well, don't they?" David asked as he moved to sit next to Treasa, so he could also watch the people on the floor. Treasa nodded. She watched the flame on the table dance and decided that work would start tomorrow night.

"Did you want to dance?" David asked Treasa suddenly.

Treasa shook herself from her mindless stare into the depths of the candle and looked at David. "What?" She almost whispered. David quickly looked away.

"I'm sorry, beer talking, I shouldn't have asked." He started to get up and Treasa placed her hand gently on his arm.

"I'd love to." just seemed to spill from her mouth. Must be the alcohol talking for her also. She hadn't looked at anyone since AJ. But there was that tingle again, that burn that started in her chest and spread to her arms. It made her ache in a way she hadn't felt in many, many years. They made their way to the floor. Darkstar and Izmyroth had disappeared into the night, and other faces were strangers. He put his hand on her lower back, warm on her flesh, sending waves of emotion to points in her long dead body and soul. She wrapped her right hand in his strong well worn hand, and her left hand on his strong chest. They started a dance of friendship. They spoke about things and feelings lost. The tall blond was very sheltered, working and living for his family and their farm. Little time for dating, or loving. He knew her story as well. Love lost, and never desiring another. Fighting for a vengeance to fill a void that vengeance could never fit in to fill.

With a few dances and the settling alcohol Treasa found herself nestling in to David's chest, focusing on his heartbeat. She felt walls, years in the making, falling away, like dead leaves from a tree. There were feelings bubbling to the surface, dueling with feelings she cemented in place years ago. She felt like she was abandoning AJ for David. Her eyes flashed open for only a second in fear of that thought, and then she forced a calm over herself again. AJ was gone, even though she was supposed to rescue him, she wasn't rescuing AJ, she was saving the Senator. Even though she would see him at the end of this journey and he would remember, he could never function in his role as the Senator with the memories of AJ. AJ died. The Senator now lived in his body. Treasa deserved more then waiting for a ghost to tell her everything would be ok, and that her life will be normal again. She needed only to say good bye to AJ, serve the Senator and find someone else to fill the void in her personal life. Someone like David. She smiled at her thoughts, she knew some of the answers now. All she needed to do was remember them come morning.

Black Lotus watched her multiple monitors. She watched Janos eating his evening meal, troops training, empty halls, and patrols making the rounds. She made a few swift keystrokes and more halls and people showed on the screen. She put her feet up on her desk and leaned back, tea cup and saucer in hand sipping from the herbal tea she had brewed. She watched Treasa Firestar and David Stormblade share a friendly dance in the Phoenix. She watched Izmyroth and Darkstar engage in animalistic, rough sex, outside the lounge. She had her other mole place cameras in key, public locations. Black Lotus had to admit, she liked it rough, and sat with voyeuristic pleasure and watched Izmyroth and Darstar claw, bite and penetrate. She was quite wound up by the time they were done round one and it looked as though they planed on continuing in private. Black Lotus quickly moved from her desk and had an idea. She went in search of Janos, hastily leaving her office, not shutting down her video feeds from Phyre Knight HQ.


End file.
